Shaping the World with Shapeways: An Interview with Duann Scott
In 2010 Shapeways, the Dutch 3D printing trailblazer, moved its headquarters to New York City. As a marketplace and community, the company strives to make product design more accessible, personal and inspiring. Duann Scott, a design evangelist at the company, encourages other designers, makers and the public to leverage 3D printing to make their ideas tangible while also creating innovative products of the future. Duann’s practical experience with 3D printing combined with academic research into the social implications of digital fabrication give him a broad perspective of the 3D printing ecosystem. Here, Duann shares insights on the benefits New York City has to offer new manufacturing.
WHY NYC?
New York International: Why is New York City the right place for new manufacturing?Duann Scott: Shapeways moved its factory to New York City to be closest to the best creative minds and people, and to deliver our products to people who are apt to see the world. It’s the place where we found the best coders, engineers, and designers, and the best people to make our business grow. New York City is the perfect place for a company like Shapeways to do lean manufacturing on demand. We don’t need a lot of space, we change things a lot and we evolve quickly. New York has people who are adaptable to change--people who are willing to work hard, are passionate about their jobs, and who do things right. NY Intl: Which companies are “doing it right” in the manufacturing industry?Duann: If we look back even ten years ago, manufacturing in New York City and the rest of America, was very old-school industrial. Now we see companies like Shapeways, Adafruit and Littlebits doing really agile manufacturing, and with demand we’ll see more of that grow in New York City. Here, we have the infrastructure to distribute things, we have the space for machines; we can make anything here. So I think it is perfectly suitable for us to continue manufacturing in New York.
HOW CAN NYC IMPROVE?
NY Intl: Name three things that need to change to make NYC an even more suitable manufacturing location for your business.
Duann: New York City was the perfect place for Shapeways to move in order to grow. We have amazing help and support. We had some issues with the cost of living in New York City, especially with high rents, but we knew we could overcome that by making use of the space, by manufacturing even smarter, and by tapping into the talent and creativity of New Yorkers. It’s the place where there is the greatest density of smart people who can make the new industrial revolution happen. We don’t need big industrial spaces we only need the best people.NY Intl: In which regards will NYC never be able to compete with other locations?Duann: I don’t see New York City ever competing with the mass production of South East Asia, or China or India, where hands are doing the work. New York City attracts the best minds, so we should use that. With agile manufacturing, 3D printing and digital fabrication, we see that the tools give us so much ability to make things complex. We don’t need the brute force of labor. We can use our minds to do things and that’s what we continue to see in New York City.NY Intl: Should the City government get involved in the industrial revolution 4.0 on a policy level?Duann: Shapeways had amazing support from the city government and the state. It is what has really helped us to grow here. To grow from three people in a small office to 140 people in a giant factory in New York City has been phenomenal for us. So we’d like to see more support like that. New York City can continue to help Shapeways grow by helping us to find the best people, by connecting us with the best infrastructure, and by giving us incentives that continue to build and invest in developing manufacturing in New York City.
THE FUTURE
NY Intl: What does NYC have to do to remain globally competitive in the manufacturing sector?Duann: I think what’s really important for New York’s tech industry is for us to be connected and work together. Find ways that we can collaborate, learn from each other, and grow New York City as the next manufacturing hub. To remain globally competitive, New York City needs to adapt to the changes happening in the world; the city can do this by embracing the digital age, smart manufacturing, fast manufacturing, lean manufacturing, making things that people really want and need, thinking ahead of the curve, thinking of how things are going to evolve and making it happen here. NY Intl: How can NYC continue to attract global talent?
Duann: New York City naturally attracts the best people because it is such a versatile place. Everything you want culturally and for business investments is here. As long as New York City continues to be this diverse and versatile place we’ll continue to see the best people coming in to work and play.NY Intl: Where do you see manufacturing in 2024?Duann: Manufacturers like Shapeways need incentives to grow our business in New York City. We need to be able to make sure we find talent, have the space for us to grow, and have the infrastructure to spread those things. This new industrial revolution of lean manufacturing, 3D printing, and digital production, can change the way manufacturing can happen in New York City. It’s not big dirty factories. It’s small lean factories doing lots of different things like super agile production, changing to the needs of supply and demand - perfect for 3D printing.