Text: Thomas Masuch, 8 September 2023
As a manufacturing and innovation partner, 3DStep Oy identifies additive potential and leverages it as a service provider
Innovation has been Pekka Ketola's business for 25 years. With his company Ideascout, the doctor of philosophy has been offering additive manufacturing training, seminars and conferences for various industries since 2012. “Our goal in the beginning was to bring additive manufacturing of metal to Finland, because almost ten years ago there was nothing in the field.”
Ketola had also learned at these events that there was a real need for 3D printed components in Finland. “Part of the reason for that is that the volumes in Scandinavia, and Finland in particular, are often so low that it's even more profitable to use this technology here than in other countries.”
Images: 3DStep
And since no one seemed to want to start such a business in Finland at the time, “We asked why not just do it ourselves,” Ketola recalls. “The need was quite easy to see, however it's not so easy for companies to get into this technology.” A spin-off from Ideascout, 3DStep was created in the Tampere region, the industrial center of Finland in 2016. It gradually acquired a small pool of industrial 3D printers and established itself as an additive services provider. The company now has machines for metal and polymer manufacturing (including two SLM 280 machines, two HP Jetfusion machines, EOS technology and a Mimaki Full Color printer), among others. In addition to Pekka, the company has three other owners and now employs 10 people.
Consulting also continues to be an important pillar for 3DStep. “Many of our customers have heard of 3D printing, but they don't know exactly what they can do with it. They simply need help on imagining potential applications.” That was the case when 3DStep was founded in 2016, he says, and “To this day, not much has really changed,” Ketola explains. “Except that there was media hype back then, today it's more sober and about real business. In that respect, Finland is no different from other countries in Europe.”
Images: 3DStep
3DStep has established a very close collaboration with OptoFidelity, a provider of robot-assisted test and measurement solutions for electronics. It is in such relatively young companies and start-ups that Ketola also sees the greatest growth potential for his company and for 3D printing in Finland: “These companies are very open to new technologies and much more willing to use them for themselves.”
Overall, most of 3DStep's customers also come from Finland, although Ketola is also increasingly looking to other European countries: “Our advanced know-how and efficiency in 3D printing of aluminum, which is otherwise difficult to find in this form, helps us here.”
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