Essentium Blog

October 27, 2020October 29, 2020 | Blake Teipel

Investing in the Future Part 2 of 3: 5 Tips for Hardware Manufacturers to Overcome Challenges to Raising Capital

In my last post, I talked about the challenges of raising capital for a hardware startup and WHY you need courageous investors. This time, I dig a little deeper to tell you about HOW I found them, along with some tips on emulating Essentium’s success in your next venture.

October 22, 2020January 13, 2021 | Blake Teipel

Investing in the Future Part 1 of 3: Seeking Courageous Investors

Raising capital for a hardware-based startup can be a real challenge. It’s not just about securing financing, but seeking the right kind of money from the right type of investor. I learned that finding a courageous investor who shares your vision for the future can make all the difference. Here’s my story of how we […]

September 14, 2020December 1, 2020 | Blake Teipel

Transforming the Factory Floor AND Your Perceptions of 3D Printing

Historically, 3D printing has been viewed as a prototyping technology — toys for engineers and inventors to experiment with different designs and materials on a small scale. When a product is ready for mass production, that’s when proven subtractive manufacturing processes usually take over to make the molds and affordably produce large quantities at scale […]

August 25, 2020March 30, 2021 | The Essentium Team

Essentium Takes PEEK to the Next Level

PEEK is a high-performance, semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer used extensively in the aerospace, oil and gas, medical device, and chemical process industries. It has excellent mechanical and chemical resistance properties that are retained at elevated temperatures, with some grades having a continuous-use operating temperature of up to 500° F (260° C). PEEK is highly resistant to […]

August 12, 2020November 30, 2020 | The Essentium Team

Essentium Makes Additive Manufacturing-Powered Supply Chains a Reality

Digital transformation is affecting every aspect of business operations, from resource procurement to end-user delivery. New technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, robotics, and autonomous vehicles are reshaping every link in the supply chain, automating and modernizing entire workflows.

August 5, 2020March 30, 2021 | The Essentium Team

3D Printing’s Impact on Sustainability

No matter how you slice it, when you make something using traditional subtractive manufacturing processes, you create waste through cutting, grinding, drilling or otherwise machining away sections from a solid block of raw material to create a desired form — material that you paid for.

August 3, 2020November 30, 2020 | Blake Teipel

Winning When You’re Losing: Making Lemonade Out of (3D Printed) Lemons

When it’s nearing the end of a game and victory is clearly out of reach, coaches often put their second and third stringers into the contest. Are they giving up? Not in the slightest. They’re using that valuable time to give less talented players exposure to in-game situations, a chance to feel part of the […]

July 7, 2020March 30, 2021 | The Essentium Team

3D Filament Drying: Proper Drying Practices Make Perfect 3D Printed Parts

Water. It’s the foundation of all life on earth, but it’s a killer when it comes to the quality and consistency of 3D printed parts. The moisture content in thermoplastic extrusion materials used by 3D printers needs to be properly controlled during filament manufacture, storage, and when printing to achieve best results. Improper handling at […]

June 30, 2020January 14, 2021 | Jim Rollins

The Bigger the Better: Printing Large Jigs and Fixtures in One Piece

In the mass manufacturing world, 3D printing is usually not used to make a finished piece. Rather, it is an enabling technology. Additive manufacturing is used to help other machines, robots and workers do their jobs better by creating lightweight yet durable jigs and fixtures that securely hold a tool or an unfinished part in […]

June 29, 2020November 30, 2020 | Blake Teipel

3D Printing & Supply Chains: Adopting a Posture of Preparedness

The COVID-19 pandemic has shined a bright light on the fragility of our supply chains. Who would have thought that in a country like America, we would ever see stores stripped bare of essentials like toilet paper and pasta? That our medical professionals and first responders would run out of PPE? Or that domestic factories […]