Building a winning business case for 3D printing

As an educator and champion of STEAM in your school, you already understand the value of regularly exposing students to emerging technology. You work every day to build robust, almost intuitive technological skills that your graduates will use in their careers.

But physically getting that equipment into daily use in your classroom or faculty is the first step. We understand. And we’re here to help.

Here’s our tips to help you build a business case for 3D printers – either for internal stakeholders (like the Principal and the Board), or perhaps to help you ‘tick boxes’ for external grant funding applications.

Defining the ‘why’ for 3D printers 

What may seem obvious to you needs to be cleverly, concisely articulated for your audience. Here’s a few compelling reasons why building competence in 3D printing is crucial:

• Future business and industry will expect proficiency and confidence in 3D printing, in the same way today’s jobseekers are expected to know how to operate a laptop and peripherals.
• 3D printing is a disruptive technology – every day, people are finding ways to use it to solve problems and shorten processes.
• Additive manufacturing – building an object layer by layer – is the way of the future. With 3D printing, accuracy, functionality and selecting different media becomes a user choice, while simple, functional programming allows the user to visualise the end product without wasting resources.
• In a learning environment, 3D printing becomes an outlet for design thinking, creative expression, collaboration across subjects and year levels and more.
• Staying relevant to the needs of students is key to the success of the school as a business. Parents don’t hesitate to move their children to the education institution that offers learning opportunities that lead to career advantages.

Assessing the scope for 3D printing at your school

It’s important to include an overview of the opportunities that can open up with this technology. You might include something like:

• Modern 3D printers are becoming standard classroom equipment, needing nothing more than a small desktop and electricity supply. Ultimaker’s S3 and S5 ranges are designed specifically for mainstream educational settings, and fit just as well in technical laboratories or makerspaces. So space is not an issue – dedicated rooms are not needed.
• The applications are endless, right across the curriculum and for every age. 3D printers enable such versatility that limits are only imposed by you and your learners’ imaginations. Think visual to functional prototyping. Simple to fully useable models, art projects, 3D teaching aids and more. How much easier is it to teach science, technology or the arts by turning theory into a tangible 3D model? A quick internet search reveals endless possibilities, ready to customise for your school’s teaching focus.
• Compare 3D printing against other ways of bringing design thinking to life. Most schools have used laser cutters, modelling clay, woodwork and metalwork for this.

Overcoming objections

We suggest you address those ‘what about …’ objections up front:

• Who’s going to train the teachers and IT staff?
  • The Ultimaker Academy runs online courses for all users, building from beginner to expert.
• We don’t have IT resources to keep them running.
  • Set up is fast and simple with the Ultimaker range, and intuitive controls minimise the need for technical assistance.
  • FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia can provide hardware service and support if you need.
• Will maintenance and consumables become a black hole of expense?
  • Ultimaker’s education range has proven reliability and can handle high workloads. FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia provide a wide range of consumables too.
• What about capital costs?
  • The cost of entry to sophisticated yet simple 3D printing is becoming more and more affordable.
  • Depending on your financial needs, we can supply attractive pricing proposals and flexible options.

Meeting application criteria 

In public grant funding, you may come across these commonly asked questions. Here are some thought starters for the answers: 

• Who will benefit from using 3D printers?
  • Your students – and they may end up teaching you a few things too!
  • Teachers – they’ll discover engaging new ways to embed learning. Read what happened to one school community here.
  • The wider school community. 3D printing enables problem-solving – let a few young innovators loose and you’ll be surprised what happens. Read about some of these results here.
• How does this project provide value for public money?
  • It’s an investment in future employees. Using 3D printers introduces a range of skills, as well as reinforcing attributes like teamwork, resilience and perseverance.
  • The Ultimaker range offers excellent return on investment. Compare value for money, using your school-specific variables, like:
    • Capital expense in hardware and accessories
    • Operating expenses in maintenance and consumables
    • Training costs
    • Facility costs including power, IT and cybersecurity

FUJIFILM Business Innovation Australia, in partnership with Ultimaker, offers flexible purchasing options and service level agreements that can bring capital expense into operations budgets. Agreements can be tailored to include comprehensive supply of consumables and maintenance support. Additionally, the Ultimaker Academy is a free resource for our customers providing comprehensive training for all levels and types of users.

Our team is ready to help you build a strong business case. Call us today on 13 14 12 or visit fujifilm.com/fbau/en/Education-3D-Solutions to learn more about our 3D solutions.

Fujifilm Business Innovation