MakerBot partnership | Jabil becomes new production partner

On April 25, MakerBot announced that they are taking another step to prepare the brand for the future. They decided to partner with Jabilone of the world’s largest design and manufacturing providers. Jabil will take over the production of all MakerBot 3D printers. Jabil is also headquartered in the USA, but with international production capabilities.

Leading analysts are predicting significant growth for the 3D printing industry^[1], and MakerBot believes it needs to position itself today for future growth. Since the realignment with the appointment of MakerBot’s new CEO in April 2015, steps have been taken to support a growth strategy focused on professional prototyping and educational applications.

To achieve these long-term goals, MakerBot should be able to adapt to the fluctuations of the future market. The collaboration with Jabil will allow them to better respond to short-term changes in the industry and reduce manufacturing costs to operate efficiently & competitively in the global market. MakerBot expects that adapting to a flexible manufacturing model will allow them to quickly ramp up or ramp down production based on demand without the fixed costs of maintaining a factory in New York City.

Production is to be transferred from the company’s own factory to Jabil over the next few months. As a result, MakerBot will have to let go of some of the factory’s employees. MakerBot promises to do as much as possible to help them find new jobs. Key factory personnel in the areas of logistics, repair, planning, operations and quality assurance will be retained.

To ensure a smooth transition, the operations team will work closely with Jabil and share the knowledge gained. MakerBot itself will benefit from Jabil’s expertise and experience to further strengthen its focus on product quality.

The parent company Stratasys will actively help to implement this process. Since last year, a close cooperation with Stratasys has started in key areas such as quality assurance and product development. quality assurance and product development. MakerBot will benefit from Stratasys’ 25 years of experience in the 3D printing industry. Stratasys also has a long history of working with various production partners, from whose knowledge and expertise MakerBot can also benefit.

^[1] http://www.canalys.com/newsroom/global-3d-printing-market-reach-202-billion-2019
Article in English