---
title: "To succeed in 3D printing long-term, you have to keep highlighting its mediocrity"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/to-succeed-in-3d-printing-long-term-you-have-to-keep-highlighting-its-mediocrity/
date: 2025-01-17
modified: 2025-01-16
lang: en
author: "Pawel Ślusarczyk"
description: "I had a conversation on LinkedIn with a leading expert in 3D printing and other manufacturing technologies from Central Europe. He is the publisher of websites and magazines about engineering,..."
categories:
  - "Decision Makers"
  - "Editorials"
  - "History of 3D Printing"
tags:
  - "Featured"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mediocrity-1-640x427.webp
word_count: 1506
---

# To succeed in 3D printing long-term, you have to keep highlighting its mediocrity

I had a conversation on LinkedIn with a leading expert in 3D printing and other manufacturing technologies from Central Europe. He is the publisher of websites and magazines about engineering, manufacturing, and digital technologies in industry. Additionally, he organizes numerous industry conferences. In short, our careers in 3D printing are quite similar.

Through our conversation, I realized that despite coming from different countries, we share almost identical experiences when discussing 3D printing with so-called “everyday people.” I compared the highlights of our conversation with talks I’ve had with other representatives from the AM industry in various countries over the years and realized that fundamentally, it has always been and likely always will be the same everywhere…

No matter where — for regular people, 3D printing will always be something other than what it truly is — something much bigger, better, and cooler. They will be very disappointed when told the truth. But with over 11 years in this industry, I’ll say this — it is the only way to survive in it.

### All those who painted AM in golden hues are long gone from the industry.

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mediocrity-2.webp)Source: Pawel Slusarczyk archive

My journey with 3D printing began in “The Wonder Years.” In 2013, 3D printing was becoming the brightest star in the new technology firmament. It was what AI is today. It was what NFTs and cryptocurrencies were yesterday. Its immense popularity was based on two pillars:

- 3D printing evangelists — people employed by AM startups who told incredible stories about the possibilities of this technology; they said everything people wanted to hear
- mainstream media journalists — who picked up these stories without checking and verifying if they were true, accepted them as they were, further embellished them, and pushed them into their newspapers, television, and websites.

Regular people received a perfect, idealized image. 3D printers were not ordinary manufacturing machines — they were “Star Trek Replicators,” “3D photocopiers.” With 3D printers, you could print anything you desired!
Like those 3D printed dresses in 2015:

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mediocrity-3.webp)Source: Pawel Slusarczyk archive

Startups sprang up like mushrooms after the rain, producing consumer 3D printers. Some of them were really beautiful. They were supposed to be in apartments and homes, playing a key role in the entire household ecosystem. They were supposed to be as important as refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and coffee machines. They were supposed to be the next home appliance.

Simultaneously, journalists presented completely distorted and untrue information. The worst part is that they didn’t lie — they just imagined it that way and put it into words. Without a sense of responsibility. And with corporate impunity.

So people imagined that with 3D printers, they could achieve everything: quickly, cheaply, and colorfully. Only from 3D printing specialists — not evangelists — did they learn the uncomfortable truth…

- that 3D printing is fast, but when compared to other manufacturing technologies; 20 hours of 3D printing is much faster than the 14 days needed for designing a mold, producing it, and starting production
- that 3D printing is cheap, but as above
- that 3D printing is colorful, but the 3D print will be done in only one color… it’s just that there are so many colors to choose from
- and generally, to produce anything, a 3D model is needed; if it’s not available on the internet (and many things weren’t in 2013–2016), it has to be designed from scratch; and that is demanding and difficult.

So people felt disappointed and deceived. But not by journalists and mainstream media — they felt deceived by the technology. And by 3D printing evangelists representing specific companies, who simply lied to them blatantly. Over time, the myth of consumer 3D printers began to crumble until it finally collapsed. The years 2016–2018 saw a dramatic decline.

So consumer 3D printers were replaced by industrial ones.

### A New Generation of Evangelists

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mediocrity-4.webp)Source: Pawel Slusarczyk archive

This time, the narrative became more sophisticated and aimed at a much more demanding audience. The focus shifted from the average Joe to engineers, designers, constructors, and materials scientists. Here, facts and hard data mattered. However, this did not stop the evangelists from telling things that weren’t entirely true. Yes, the job became harder — skilled engineers easily spotted lies and exposed incompetence. But there were engineers who were simply fascinated and wanted to believe. They could ask tough questions but chose not to.

Thus, various industrial 3D printers found their way into industrial companies. Some were truly industrial-grade — you know which ones I mean — but others were just scaled-up desktop 3D printers. Once consumer-grade, now production-grade. The technology remained the same; only the construction got bigger.

For instance, in 2015, company YYY produced “XXX” 3D printers that printed with PLA, ABS, and PETG on a 20 x 20 cm surface. By 2020, company YYY was producing “XXX INDUSTRY” versions with a 50 x 50 cm surface, printing with PLA, ABS, PETG, and additionally PA, PC, PP, TPU, HIPS, and composite versions with carbon and glass fiber.

But apart from PLA, nothing worked well because everything else warped dramatically. And leveling a worktable of such a large surface took half a day. Customers discovered this only after purchase, leading to unpleasant situations. In Poland, the purchase of such machines couple of times ended up in court.

The same issues applied to other AM technologies — UV-curable resins, polyamide powders, and metals. I know of a company producing industrial SLS 3D printers that preferred to go out of business rather than start up machines sold to customers (which still don’t work). Like the consumer sector, industrial AM companies began to face financial troubles. Some of the smallest and locally operating ones went bankrupt, while the rest are still struggling…

The evangelists of rapid manufacturing in 3D have disappeared once again.

### Only the truthful survive

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mediocrity-5.webp)Source: Pawel Slusarczyk archive

Those with over 10 years of experience in the industry are the ones who were always resistant to the success propaganda. They saw numerous advantages in additive manufacturing but never feared speaking out about its flaws. It wasn’t easy — it was often quite frustrating. Take journalists, for example…

As the former creator and editor-in-chief of the largest Polish 3D printing industry portal, I was often asked for interviews by mainstream media — newspapers, magazines, TV shows, or radio. I was asked about various topics:

- generally, what is 3D printing?
- 3D printing of weapons
- 3D printing of food
- 3D printing of buildings
- 3D printing of living human organs
- 3D printing in space.

I always answered as truthfully as possible. Modestly speaking, my answers were always great because I have a natural gift for making boring things interesting. And 3D printers are very boring. So, I spoke beautifully — but always told the uncomfortable truth. And my responses were edited, taken out of context, or not broadcast at all. Yes, twice the largest private Polish TV station came to our office, spent 2 hours recording, and the material was never aired.

- Because I was supposed to talk about a 3D-printed liver, but instead, I said it was just the first experiment and that printing a whole liver was still a long way off and might end in a dead end.
- Because I was supposed to show how to 3D print a human skull in 10 minutes, but it turned out the first layer wouldn’t even be finished in 10 minutes.

Once, I explained 3D printing and how it works to a state TV reporter in less than 3 minutes. It was my best live statement ever. Later, I found out that the reporter narrated my entire explanation off-camera — word-for-word — and I appeared for 3 seconds.

### The Same Goes for Customers

![](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mediocrity-6.webp)Source: Pawel Slusarczyk archive

People wanting to buy 3D printers usually have a vision they want to realize with them. Sometimes it’s realistic, but sometimes it’s not…

- the technology is not efficient enough
- the materials are not durable enough
- the client’s budget is too low for a system that can handle it
- the cost of parts is too high for market expectations
- the production time for serial manufacturing is too long.

I know companies and salesmen who will sell anything to a client just to make a sale, knowing it won’t work. I remember once turning away a large foundry that wanted to 3D print molds with a base size of 50 x 50 cm, using materials that could withstand temperatures above 100°C / 210°F. They had a budget of up to 1200 EUR. Impossible to achieve. Later, I found out they bought the printer from another company — they sold them some cheap Creality3D.

This is a very short-sighted strategy. It lasts for 3–4 years. Tops 6. Then, such a company folds. Those who remain in the market are the ones who always tell the truth. Even if the truth is that 3D printing is not perfect — it’s mediocre…