John Dogru, CEO of 3DPrinterOS, spoke to MPN’s editor Laura Hughes about the pivotal role of 3D printing during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Please can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your organisation?
We have developed the world's first operating system for 3D printing - 3DPrinterOS. Just like Android or Microsoft Dos solved the platform operating systems problems of the early PC and phone days, we have one platform that makes it easy to run, manage, 3D print, and run 3D printing at scale - regardless of who the manufacturer of the 3D printer is.
3D printing has many disparate systems, which we unite under one platform. Each 3D printer usually comes with its own software, and integrating all these brands onto one network is currently a nightmare for customers. This is why we developed an operating system that allows our customers to easily operate all their 3D printers and allows designers to easily print through a web browser. 3DPrinterOS's customers run some of the largest 3D print farms in the world, allowing them to produce parts at low cost and at scale. We believe we’ve made it so easy, an eight year old could use it.
How are you helping with the Covid-19 pandemic?
We gave access to our network of over 35,000+ printers, and allowed our customers to share their 3D printers with anyone in the world to produce local face shields and masks needed in hospitals and local communities.
Do you think 3D printing technology is necessary during the coronavirus pandemic?
Absolutely! Trusting only one country to produce 80% all your medical supplies has been proven to be a supply chain disaster, and national security risk. Producing $10,000 dollar valves for $1 dollar, or Covid-19 head masks at the point and time of need, has allowed 3D printers to solve this problem by allowing the community to produce this essential equipment worldwide, without waiting for inventories from China to arrive.
Some of our customers, like Duke, MIT, Harvard, and the U.S. Navy, are now producing 10,000+ Covid-19 parts per week for example. We have over 35,000 printers online, and most of our customers donated their 3D printers to those in need to print parts on demand.
How can companies who own 3D printers and want to get involved with the fight against Covid-19 help?
They should register for 3DPrinterOS's network and share their 3D printing resources with the world. Decentralised manufacturing is the only future we see.
Going forward, do you think the widespread use of 3D printing during the pandemic will increase the awareness and usage of this technology in the future?
3D Printing has been proven to be the true hero during this pandemic and is also becoming more and more a part of our daily lives. It's being increasingly used in all universities, schools, aerospace, food industry, medical industry and construction industries, and it will be part of everyone's life as we make the transition from digital to physical.
The future of 3D printing is one platform, and this is how we are helping solve our customers problems with our cloud based decentralised manufacturing operating systems.