During the last couple of months 3D Criar, the largest 3D printing reseller in Brazil, has been focusing on increasing its presence in the market. The biggest moves for the company included incorporating subsidiary 3DC Med into the 3D Criar umbrella and the hiring of a new CEO to manage the entire operation. Founded in 2014, the company has been enjoying annual average growth rates of 80% and with 49% of Brazilian firms looking to invest in new technologies during the next three years, 3D Criar is likely to continue their upward growth trend. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), 3D printing will generate 35.4 billion dollars in revenue worldwide by 2020 and 3D Criar executives are hoping to be part of the global adoption of 3D printing.
Last June, 3DPrint.com caught up with 3DC Med’s CEO, Daniel Huamani, at Inside 3D Printing Brazil to talk about the demanding health and dental industry in Brazil. Four months later, Huamani'“now Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of 3D Criar'“is confident that the new strategies will help secure a quicker expansion and leadership consolidation for the future.
'œWe seek to innovate by providing the Brazilian market with the best 3D printing technology out there. Our aim is to focus on large accounts, which is what we do best. Today our biggest customers include the city of Sao Paulo; big educational groups, and industry giants, such as automotive companies Ford and Volkswagen. We are confident that scaling our 3D printing portfolio is what most of these companies and institutions want,” Huamani told 3DPrint.com during a recent interview.
As part of their strategy, Huamani and company partner, Leandro Chen, chose Jorge Geras as the new CEO of 3D Criar. An electrical engineer with vast experience leading national and multinational companies, Geras brings a wealth of experience to his new role as well as customer-service savvy which will come in handy as he starts to develop a new visual identity, communications strategy and digital marketing for the company.
Headquartered in Sao Paulo, 3D Criar currently has a team of 25 employees, mainly engineers, who are eager to engage their expertise in a company leading the way in the region’s 3D printing revolution. Throughout its five years of operation, 3D Criar has proved reliable for its customers, that include Insper, SENAI, University of São Paulo (USP), Natura, Eurofarma, Abbott, Albert Einstein Hospital, Paulista School of Medicine, and many more.
“Brazil is coming out of a five-year recession, and although it’s a slow process, I consider that big company, public institutions and education organizations are starting to show signs that they have many reasons to invest in 3D printing technology. We are currently the main suppliers of some of the biggest education providers in the country, for example, Kroton, which oversees different companies focused on higher education as well as middle and high school, and more than 100 locations and 200 3D printers. Other massive groups include, the Paulista University (UNIP) with 240,000 students,” suggested Huamani.
3D Criar is coming up with a new business model that will entice customers to buy more machines. The main focus is expanding within education and industry, thereby delivering new machines and possibilities to additive manufacturing users and students. These are large sectors in Brazil, demanding massive changes and that’s an opportunity the company doesn’t want to miss.
Back in June, when Huamani began focusing on scaling the business, he realized that strategic actions to steadily expand in a two-year period meant he had to look for experienced professionals, leading him to hire Geras and ten new professionals that are now part of their staff. The new hires are taking the company’s plan to new customers all over the country.
One of the prominent pillars of the Brazilian 3D printing customer base is the health sector. This is a very incipient market and most of what we do in health is digital dentistry, which up until June was the sole focus of 3DC Med. Nowadays, as part of 3D Criar, we expect to fully take over the dentistry industry in the country. It seems like a very ambitious goal, but historically we have been selling to most mayor dental accounts, this includes almost all the invisible aligners (which usually involves a big chunck of the segment).”
'œWe know that every business can benefit from 3D printing, yet the machines are not used to their full potential, this is why we also offer an integral solution, not just the machine, but also a study to analyze the customer's environment and better understand how the technology can help increase capabilities.”
Huamani considers that a lot of spaces in Brazil are not benefiting from 3D printing, such as the early stages of education (elementary, middle and high school), which are becoming equipped with 3D printers but at a slower rate than universities. Other sectors, such as hospitals, and medical institutions, are swamped by bureaucracy and have a hard time establishing who has to pay for customized health care solutions, such as, presurgical models. Moreover, Huamani believes his company can make a profound difference for the country’s future, especially since local 3D printer manufacturers are not as developed as they are in other countries.
“The Brazilian national 3D printing industry does not have the scale to supply to an industry demanding dozens of machines from one month to the next. The only way to supply to large accounts is to find the technology elsewhere because our local producers can’t deliver, for instance, 100 printers in just 20 days,” revealed Huamani.
With so many options on their roster, including FDM, DLP, SLA and SLS technologies and multiple brands like Zmorph, BCN3D Technologies, BigRep, and Formlabs, Huamani is positioning the company as a true market leader. 3D Criar hopes to bring technological innovations to assist all segments of the industry.
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