Fathom is hiring for multiple positions across our 12 nationwide sites! To see all open positions, click here.

logo fathom

EE Journal 3D Printing Podcast Rich Stump

EE Journal Podcast with Rich Stump

Fathom Co-Founder and Principal Rich Stump was featured on Electronic Engineering Journals Fish Fry Podcast with host Amelia Dalton. In the conversation, Rich and Amelia touch on the state of the 3D printing industry today, manufacturers increasing embrace of additive technology and the most innovative applications of 3D printing in the Fathom arsenal—a few excerpts from the interview below.


rich-stump-ee

EE Journal / / How are manufacturers integrating 3D printing into production beyond the prototyping phase?

Rich Stump // Weve seen a trend in the last 36-48 months of 3D printing and additive manufacturing being used for more downstream applications, meaning more manufacturing applications. What customers are looking towards, as the materials and processes have matured and the material costs have come down slightly and new entrants into the market from a hardware perspective, what it allows us to do is use these machines for unique applications for production…Often cases in some industries, you see 3D printing being used for end-use parts, which we call direct digital manufacturing.

EE Journal / / How does Fathom accelerate product development in ways that other companies cant?

Rich Stump / / We try to find unique applications where customers are trying to solve complex problems, where we can use technologies such as 3D printing or other software and hardware tools, to solve these problems. We look for areas that are a challenge, where we can integrate our expertise and some of these technologies to really do something unique for a customer.

EE Journal / / How are large-scale manufacturers using 3D printing and other additive technologies to achieve certain functionalities in products?

Rich Stump // Traditional manufacturing typically has constraints that dont allow us to achieve some products or possibilities. But with additive or 3D printing, we dont necessarily care about how complex the shape is. So this opens up a whole new problem set and the ability to design more effective and efficient products by using what we call the freedom of design or freedom of complexity. Some of the large scale manufacturers are looking to additive to solve some high-value engineering and business problems.

EE Journal / / Medical and dental industries typically use 3D printing because of their needs for custom, hyper-specific products, but do you see mass customization spreading to other industries?

Rich Stump // Absolutely, this is a trend that weve seen over the last couple years as the technology matures and comes more into production applications. Weve seen in the medical and dental market, for some time now, 3D printing being used because each of us, as humans, have specific geometries and the need for customization as individuals. What were seeing in other industries, sometimes even in consumer goods, is that we all want customized products. In manufacturing with 3D printing, each product that we make can be different than the previous one.

To learn more about ways companies are using 3D printing and other technologies to bring concepts to life, check out some of our work with  Infinite Uptime, Anvil Studios, Recoup Fitness, and TerraBaby.

Comprehensive Capabilities for Rapid Manufacturing

At Fathom we offer a unique advantage of speed and agility-our experts help companies go from concept to prototype to manufacturing in ways not previously possible. 

90+ Machines  
SLS / / Two-day  SLA / / Next-day 
FDM / / Next-day DMLS / / Three-day 
PolyJet / / Same-day MJF / / Two-day
   

Get A Quote

30 Second Quotes
Prototype Tool / / As soon as 10 days
10K Parts / / 10 days
Production Tool / / As soon as 3 weeks
 

Get A Quote

3 & 5 Axis Milling & Turning
(Plastics, Composites and Metals)

Tolerance Accuracy Range
from +/-0.001″ to 0.005″

Get A Quote

Injection Molding Adjacent
without High Costs of Metal Tools

Most Commonly Used for High-Volume
Prototyping & Bridge to Production

Get A Quote

Finishing, Production Painting and Color Matching

Assembling, Including Embedded Electronic
Components, Threaded Inserts, and More

Get A Quote

CAD, DFAM and DFM Services

Apply Methods to Increase Speed
and Decrease Total Cost

Get A Quote

Highly Trained Staff / / Full-Time & Part-Time
Support as Short-Term & Long-Term Strategy

Decrease Downtime with Customizable
Staffing Accelerates Implementation

Get A Quote

Let’s get started.

Fathom is driven by advanced technologies and methods that enhance and accelerate today’s product development and production processes.

GET YOUR 30 SECOND QUOTE

Manufacturing Locations Across National Time Zones
Manufacturing Locations Across National Time Zones
The Fathom Advanced Manufacturing Platform
new map update 3
HEADQUARTERS

1050 Walnut Ridge Drive
Hartland, WI 53029
ISO 9001:2015
AS9100:2016
ITAR

ARIZONA

444 W. 21st St. Ste. 101
Tempe, AZ 85282
ISO 9001:2015
NIST800-171 Compliant
ITAR

COLORADO

7770 Washington St.
Denver, CO 80229
ISO 9001:2015
ITAR

MINNESOTA

13758 Johnson Street NE
Ham Lake, MN 55304

TEXAS

1801 Rowe Lane
Pflugerville, TX 78660
ISO 9001:2015
AS9100:2016

1513 Sam Bass Rd
Round Rock, TX 78681
ISO 9001:2015
ISO 13485:2016

CALIFORNIA

620 3rd Street
Oakland, CA 94607
ISO 9001:2015 Design Certified
NIST 800-171 Compliant
ITAR

FLORIDA

14000 N.W. 58th Court
Miami Lakes, FL 33014

NEW YORK

1920 Slaterville Rd
Ithaca, NY 14850
ITAR

401 W. Shore Blvd.
Newark, NY 14513
AS9100:2016
ISO 9001:2015
ITAR

ILLINOIS

1207 Adams Drive
McHenry, IL 60051
ISO 9001:2015

1401 Brummel Ave
Elk Grove, IL 60007
ISO 9001:2015 Design Certified

fathom yellow color logo