Printing the future

"In 2013, we achieved a breakthrough of sorts when local government officials, particularly those from the Baoshan district in Shanghai where the new facility is now located, promised to protect our intellectual property rights. This gave us the confidence to set up an R&D center and give it a complete Chinese structure," said Van der Schueren.

"If you look at the Chinese 3-D printing market, you will find that there are still some IP issues that need to be sorted out. For starters, the majority of the existing users are using our software illegally. The number of legal users is still quite limited in China. But the local government is helping us, providing us with guidelines, helping to register our software, and giving us the legal protection so that our software is recognized by the authorities in China," he said.

The fact that the local government has shown its commitment to protect the company's IP rights was the tipping point for setting up the R&D center in China, he said, adding that it would also involve Materialise creating new IP rights in China. "This is a positive signal which means that we are prepared to create IP in China. In addition, the IP created within China is very likely to be exported to the rest of the world," he said.

Like other markets, it is the medical industry in China that has shown more interest in 3-D printing, especially for implants, surgical tools and medical devices. There are also consumers who want to create their own products, which is also the same in the United States and Europe. Companies in the aerospace industry have also shown great interest in 3-D printing. Apart from the biomedical sector, Materialise also focuses on software sales in China. The main targets for software are the manufacturers of 3-D printers and service companies.

Even though the market size is expanding in China, the company does not see the necessity to explore more of the market, for the Chinese 3-D printing market is developing so fast that the only thing Materialise has to do is to find new space for its facility to catch up, according to Van der Schueren.

"Just take a look at the number of companies specializing in 3-D printing in China. We have come to understand that we have to grow our Chinese operations significantly in the upcoming years," he said.

The rapid growth in the Chinese market, together with that also seen in other markets, helped Materialise to go public in June last year. South Carolina-based industry leader 3-DSystems, Voxeljet from Germany, ExOne from the United States, and many other peers have followed Materilaise's example of raising funds from the capital market.