Scott Crump on 3D Printing

When I think back on the 20 years Stratasys has been in business, it is striking how fast the time has gone and how far we have traveled.

Our team has been busy with scores of initiatives that divert our attention from the passing time. Although incremental change never looks impressive, when I stop and take stock of where we have been and where we are, it is gratifying.

When you look at projects like the full-scale turboprop engine model for Autodesk or customers' rapid manufacturing projects, like those from ScriptPro, Indian Springs Manufacturing and ICON Aircraft all created with FDM technology, it’s hard to believe how it all started.

It started with a hot-glue gun and the intent of making a frog-shaped toy for my two-year-old daughter to play with. She loved “froggies,” and was not a tough customer to please. So I took the crude tool, traced out a simple frog shape, filled it in and began building up the frog, layer by layer. It was 3D Printing in its most primitive form.

The idea of attaching a glue gun to a 3D plotter soon followed, as well as experiments on the kitchen stove, mixing wax and thermoplastics.

From our team’s first commercial rapid prototyping machine to today’s production machines for low volume manufacturing, we continue to challenge ourselves and improve our products incrementally. As in any pioneering endeavor, we have had missteps along the way. Yet today Stratasys private labels our Dimension 3D Printers for HP. And our Fortus 3D Production Systems are an alternative to injection molding, beginning to rival it's ability to hold tight tolerances.

So if you find yourself toiling in your career or other undertaking and are sometimes self-critical because you don’t see great change from day to day, ask yourself: “Do I have a dream that I’m working toward? Am I taking on new challenges, setting goals, and making incremental progress? Do I pick myself up when I fall down?” If so, maybe you’ve come further than you realize.

Look back and take stock of how much you’ve accomplished, and your path will become clear.

Great progress is evolutionary; it rarely comes in great strides but is the result of continued commitment to a vision.