[3D Printing Application] New Lab: The entire factory is my 3D printing office!

[3D Printing Application] The entire factory is my 3D printing office!

In an era where offices are located in crowded downtown areas, New Lab proposed the concept of bringing all collaborative companies together under one roof. Spanning 84,000 square feet, located in the historic Brooklyn Naval Shipyard, it boasts over 100 member companies, including more than 500 designers, engineers, entrepreneurs, managers, and product specialists.



Beneath a high-arched roof and a 40-ton crane, New Lab echoes its predecessor, a factory once used to build warships. Every day, its members are transforming the company's perspective on prototyping and manufacturing processes. Robotics, IoT, blockchain, urban planning, and life sciences… new technologies permeate every office, loft, and studio; and it boasts dedicated customer visit spaces, enabling 24/7 module manufacturing, testing, and rapid prototyping.
3D printing technology, as a unique hardware component, is responsible for providing flexible manufacturing solutions that bridge the digital divide, from design concept to physical prototype. Therefore, 3D printers have become central to rapid prototyping within companies, enabling communication, field testing, and creativity at every step.



3D printing solutions

"When Ultimaker joined New Lab, we provided our member companies with a year and a half of the latest professional desktop 3D printers and hundreds of filaments for free, 24/7 use," said Matt, Ultimaker’s North American Community Director. New Lab aims to create a high-speed, reliable collaborative space to meet the immediate needs of our members in executing projects.


With improvements in overall manufacturing capabilities and quality, New Lab has eliminated high-cost, high-maintenance industrial FFF options, resulting in higher utilization rates and lower costs. "For members interested in 3D printing and planning to integrate it into their workflows, the barrier to entry is either that they believe 3D printing can do everything or that it can't be tailored to their needs," says Alexander, Director of Additive Manufacturing at New Lab.
The real way to make people understand 3D printing is to let them try printing things; some industrial-only machines can't do that.
Today, New Lab’s 3D printing room has 12 Ultimaker 3D printers available for members throughout the entire facility; with these printers available day or night, the possibilities for innovation are limitless.

From industrial machines to desktop models

Desktop 3D printers are an emerging industry trend replacing industrial 3D printers , allowing manufacturers, design firms, engineering companies, and educators to replace expensive machines with the same budget. As Martha Bousha, CEO of 10xBETA, points out, industrial machines may be missing out on crucial rapid prototyping opportunities.



"With our Ultimaker , we were finally able to experiment with 3D printers. The initial goal of rapid prototyping was to get results within a day, rather than manufacturing expensive parts at every stage. When I was printing with SLS or industrial FFF, I felt that parts that were too expensive to produce were very valuable, but I might only need to look at them for five minutes before discarding and updating them. We would rather buy three more Ultimakers than one entry-level industrial machine that costs nine thousand dollars." Marshall believes that a professional desktop 3D printer can meet the team's actual prototyping needs.
Once the habit of 3D printing was established, Tony Kaufman, a product development engineer at Voltaic Systems, said that Ultimaker easily became a powerful part of his production tools. "It definitely speeds things up, it allows Voltaic to reduce the time they spend moving between factories, and the biggest advantage is that it can improve product quality," Tony said.



Eric Furman, who runs his own studio, says 3D printing has changed his perspective as a designer on how to produce things because he believes 3D printers like the Ultimaker could improve other practical and functional tools. "Most of my printing is used to combine other tools, and when I combine interactive and responsive technologies with natural materials like wood, it's important that everything interacts and functions purposefully. 3D printing can bridge and bond different materials," Crie said.
Eric also believes that "maybe using 3D printing would improve things?" He now tends to prioritize 3D printing during the construction process. "Now I've expanded to using actual 3D printed parts in the final piece as the material itself, not just as an aid," he says.



Similarly, Aya also developed crucial ideas about 3D printing , drawing inspiration from the new tools he worked with as an agent for companies like SILO. He discovered how useful it was to create 3D printed simulations by polishing and finishing the print, which he could then hand over directly to industrial designers for immediate feedback.

Prototype Improved Accelerator

Of all the tools offered by New Lab, Aya found the desktop 3D printers to be the most valuable and user-friendly. " Ultimaker is a general prototyping tool, and I've done a lot of research on desktop 3D printers, and to my knowledge, Ultimaker is the best in the FFF category. Just using them allows you to create inspiration and put it in front of you, whether it's for an hour or a day, which shows how helpful they are."



Looking ahead, rapid prototyping is prompting members to consider the impact of these versatile technologies—whether through investing in personal equipment or expanding their horizons with new tools. Fully functional 3D printers already meet their needs, compared to the cost barrier of expensive machines.
By navigating the time-consuming and costly process between conception and manufacturing, these innovators have found Ultimaker to offer the flexibility to improve their products. Their creativity and cross-company collaboration attest to the success of the New Lab work environment. Spaces like New Lab open doors for business collaboration and faster production processes, providing opportunities for hardware companies capable of rapid growth to succeed.

Original source: https://ultimaker.com/en/stories/52698-new-lab-innovators-print-their-way-to-faster-iterations-and-design-freedom