How to tap into the power of 3D printing

In 2012, Christian Saurman bought a 3D printer for printing models…then he bought another and another. Today the lab has five in-house units, receives 50% of its impressions digitally and prints about 250 models each day to accompany its appliances. “The equipment was a huge capital investment and my dad looked at me and said, ‘Are you sure about this, buddy?’ But he trusted me and it’s paid off,” says Saurman, Vice President of New England Orthodontic (NEO) Lab in Wilmington, MA, who runs the operation with his father, Bill.

The printers, along with a digital portal the lab created on its website to accept clients’ prescriptions and digital impressions, have had a huge impact on the lab’s operations and growth: in four years, it has doubled the size of its staff from 35 to 70 and its number of clients from 500 to 1,000, and increased annual gross sales by $3 million. 

While initially...