Head of Innovation of Hubs, Proto Labs
Search every verified Bram De zwart interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Bram de Zwart, co-founder and former CEO of 3D Hubs (now part of Proto Labs as Head of Innovation of Hubs), has discussed the company's strategic shift from a consumer-focused platform to an industrial manufacturing service. In a 2021 interview, he stated that 3D Hubs pivoted from connecting thousands of hobbyist 3D printer owners to working with a few hundred certified production partners, adding CNC machining and injection molding alongside 3D printing. He said the company uses machine learning to automate pricing and quality checks, and that it targets the small-volume outsourced production market, which he described as a $40 billion segment. De Zwart has emphasized the importance of supply chain resilience, particularly after disruptions caused by COVID-19. He said the company doubled the number of regions where it has manufacturing partners to avoid over-reliance on any single area, such as China. He noted that 3D Hubs doubled its net revenue during the pandemic despite a global decline in manufacturing output, attributing this to increased digital adoption. He has also stated that the company aims to become a billion-dollar enterprise by further automating production and decentralizing manufacturing to reduce inventory and transportation.
“When COVID hit, we quickly realized that geographic diversification of the manufacturing partner network is very critical in order to have continued service to our customers. We doubled the number of regions where we have manufacturing partners around the globe to build a very resilient supply chain.”
“Our platform can definitely grow into handling very high volumes. We've done orders of a few hundred thousand dollars already, but for such large volumes, we don't instantly quote or guarantee prices on the platform because it's too risky. Instead, we mix online platform features with support from our sales and enginee...”
“We use machine learning and data from six million parts we've produced to instantly calculate a price for production when a customer uploads a CAD file. We guarantee the price in 96% of projects, taking on the pricing risk ourselves.”
“We realized that relying too much on a single region, like China, can disrupt delivery to customers due to lockdowns or trade wars. So geographic diversification is key to maintaining reliable service.”
“Despite the global decline in manufacturing output due to COVID, we've doubled our net revenue this year, which shows the industry is moving more and more online.”
“Younger engineers expect on-demand manufacturing platforms similar to Uber or Airbnb. COVID has accelerated this digital transformation and increased the desire for such platforms.”
“We immediately updated our strategy with a strong focus on supply chain resilience and geographic diversification as soon as COVID hit, and communicated this clearly to our team.”
“Frequent communication is critical during a crisis—you can almost not over-communicate. I gave weekly updates to the team on how management was thinking about developments and what it meant for the business.”
“We organize virtual coffee meetings with small random groups of employees to replicate the valuable informal interactions that happen in an office, which helps maintain social connection and knowledge sharing.”
“My advice to peers running businesses during this potential second wave is to immediately reassess your strategy to ensure it works in the new environment and to maintain very frequent communication with your team.”
“We have shifted our strategy from focusing on consumers and hobbyists to fully targeting the industry, adding more automated production technologies alongside 3D printing, such as CNC milling and injection molding.”
“We use machine learning to fully automate pricing calculations, which traditionally took engineers days or weeks, and now in 98 percent of cases, we provide a price within seconds that we guarantee.”
“We raised 18 million dollars in investment based on a combination of financial forecasts and market valuation to support our rapid revenue growth ambitions without excessively diluting shareholders.”
“We want to build a billion-dollar company and have a real impact on the manufacturing industry worldwide by decentralizing production to be more local and with less inventory.”
“The market for small volume outsourced production parts alone is 40 billion dollars, while the total global manufacturing industry is 12 trillion dollars, so we are targeting a very small but growing segment.”
When Bram de Zwart co-founded 3d Hubs, it was to 'uberize' or crowdsource 3D Printing capacity for home users, it grew into ...
... en co-founder Bram de Zwart vertelt in Top Names over de voordelen van werken met 3D Hubs, verregaande automatiseringde ...
Company Presentation by Bram de Zwart, Co-Founder & CEO of 3D Hubs at the NOAH Conference 2017 in London, Old ...
We spraken Bram de Zwart, de ceo van 3d-printernetwerk 3D Hubs, over de impact van 3D-printen. Winactie: Maak kans op een ...
CEO Bram de Zwart vertelt in Top Names over de ontwikkelingen, de hype en het decentraliseren van productie.
Bram de Zwart, CEO and co-founder of 3D Hubs, wants to reduce pollution and over production -- by replacing mass production ...
Bram de Zwart at CreativeMornings Amsterdam, July 2015. Free events like this one are hosted every month in dozens of cities.
Bram de Zwart at CreativeMornings Amsterdam, July 2015. Free events like this one are hosted every month in dozens of cities.
At TCT + Personalize 3D Printing Conference at the 2015 International CES 3D Hubs Co-Founder Bram de Zwart announced that ...
Sign in to search the full transcript archive, filter by topic, and access every quote from Bram De zwart.
The summary and quote tags on this profile are produced with AI assistance from verified, first-person interview transcripts, then checked by our team to confirm the speaker's identity and the accuracy of every quote. See how we verify →