Additive Economics: Reshoring, Risk & Revenue in Additive Manufacturing

Additive Snack · 29 Apr 2025 · 50m · Episode 8

What this episode covers

Danny Piper, Managing Partner at New Cap Partners, discusses the financial landscape of additive manufacturing, highlighting the impact of tariffs, reshoring, and defense spending on the industry. He analyzes the struggles of public companies like Stratasys and 3D Systems, the rise of contract manufacturers like Encoda and I3D, and the critical need for long-term capital to support manufacturing innovation. Piper predicts a return of 'smart money' and a potential market hype cycle driven by AI and reduced adoption friction.

Mentioned

Companies
New Cap Partners, Stratasys, 3D Systems, Nano Dimension, Desktop Metal, Markforged, Materialise, EOS, Encoda, I3D, Adman, 1000 Kelvin, Backflip, SpaceX, Airbus, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Honeywell, Fortissimo
Also
Printing Money

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Hard Tech Podcast · 1h 15m

    Riley Knox: Smart Factories, 3D Printing, Adv. Manufacturing, and Elon Musk | Hard Tech Podcast #10

    Riley Knox, co-founder and CEO of Accelerate 3D, discusses his background in mechanical engineering and the development of smart factories that integrate 3D printing with automation. He contrasts the unproven economics of concrete 3D printing with the efficiency of robotic brick-laying systems like FBR, while arguing that additive manufacturing offers a viable path for small-to-medium batch production by eliminating mold costs. The conversation also covers the strategic importance of reshoring advanced manufacturing to the US, the limitations of hardware accelerators, and the polarizing influence of Elon Musk on public perception of hard tech.

  • The Manufacturing Executive · 32m

    The Hard Truths About Reshoring American Manufacturing w/ Eddy Azad

    Eddy Azad, CEO of Parsec Automation, discusses the strategic realities of reshoring manufacturing to the United States, arguing that it is a long-term, complex process rather than a simple cost-saving switch. He explains that reshoring makes the most sense for high-value, high-tech products like semiconductors and medical devices where supply chain resilience and innovation are critical, rather than for commoditized goods. Azad highlights that while automation and AI can mitigate higher US labor costs, they require robust data infrastructure and end-to-end integration to be effective. He also addresses the impact of AI on the workforce, noting a shift from manual execution to human-in-the-loop oversight and prompt engineering.

  • EMS@C-LEVEL · 7m

    Navigating Industry Change with Out of the Box Manufacturing's Allison Budvarson

    Allison Budvarson, COO and co-founder of Out of the Box Manufacturing, discusses the current state of the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) industry at APEX 2025. She highlights a growing customer openness to reshoring manufacturing to the US, despite ongoing hesitancy regarding tariffs and geopolitical uncertainty. Budvarson argues that addressing talent shortages and capacity constraints requires leveraging AI to automate non-value-added processes, allowing the workforce to focus on high-technology tasks. She also emphasizes the importance of industry collaboration through the EMS Leadership Summit to share knowledge and elevate the entire sector.

  • Manufacturing Happy Hour · 39m

    The Future of Hardware, Manufacturing Startups, and Industrial Policy with Nick Pinkston (Part 2 of 3)

    Nick Pinkston, CEO and founder of Volition, discusses the challenges of hardware startups, noting that consumer hardware is easily knocked off by Chinese manufacturers while hard tech suffers from long payback periods and impatient VC funding. He argues that additive manufacturing will not replace traditional processes but rather be enhanced by computing and AI, citing Path Robotics' use of computer vision for welding edge cases. Pinkston highlights the importance of industrial policy, suggesting the US needs to reinvest in foundational manufacturing R&D and vocational training to compete globally, while also emphasizing the need for better community building between startups and large corporations.

  • OnTrack · 22m

    OnTrack PCB Design Podcast 2025 Year in Review

    Host Zach Peterson reviews 2025 industry trends, highlighting how tariffs reshaped global supply chains and spurred UHDI manufacturing expansion in the US. Guests including David Schild, Tyler Richards, and Greg Papandrew discuss the economic realities of reshoring, the technical challenges of high-layer count and rigid-flex PCBs, and the specific innovations in solder paste and substrate materials. The episode also examines the practical application of AI in embedded development and supply chain management, noting both its utility in automating coding tasks and its current limitations in deterministic engineering optimization.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Additive Snack. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.