Carbon (company)
Carbon (legally Carbon3D Inc.) is a digital manufacturing company founded in 2013 by Joseph and Philip DeSimone, Alex and Nikita Ermoshkin, Edward Samulski, and Steve Nelson. Carbon is based in Redwood City, California. The company manufactures and develops 3D printers utilizing the Continuous Liquid Interface Production process, with its first commercial product being the Carbon M1 printer. The company introduced its proprietary CLIP process on the TED stage in 2015.[1] The Carbon Platform combines software, hardware, and molecular science to deliver manufacturing solutions designed to allow customers to build differentiated products that reduce waste and speed time to market.[2] In April 2017, Adidas announced the first 3D printed midsole developed using Carbon technology.[3]
Type | Private |
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Industry | Technology |
Founded | December 2013 |
Founder |
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Headquarters | 1089 Mills Way, , |
Number of locations | 3 offices (2019) |
Area served | Worldwide; 11 countries |
Key people |
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Products | Carbon M1 printer, M2 printer, M2d printer, C6 cassette, L1 printer, Smart Part Washer, programmable resins |
Website | www |
History
The company was founded in 2013[4] by Joseph and Philip DeSimone. In March 2015, Joseph gave a TED talk that showed a preview of a 3D printer prototype using Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP).[5] Carbon engaged in four fundraising ventures between 2014 and 2017 from investors such as Sequoia Capital, Google Venture, GE, Fidelity Management & Research, Adidas, BMW, and Johnson & Johnson.[6]
The company won awards from WEF Tech Pioneers,[7] MIT Technology Review's 50 Smartest Companies of 2017,[8] and the Fast Company Innovation by Design Award.[9] Carbon has made partnerships with companies including Ford in 2015,[10] Johnson & Johnson in 2016,[11][12] Adidas in 2017,[13] Vitamix in 2018,[14][15] Riddell[16][17] and Lamborghini in 2019.[18][19]
Craig Carlson joined Carbon[20] in 2014 from Tesla to lead the engineering team. In March 2016, Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur Josh Green joined[21] as general counsel. In November 2018, Elisa de Martel was named[22] chief financial officer. In December 2018, Dara Treseder joined[23] as the company’s first chief marketing officer. In November 2019, Ellen Kullman was appointed President and CEO.[24][25] Kullman served on Carbon's board prior to becoming President and CEO.[26] Carbon’s board of directors includes former Ford CEO Alan Mulally,[27] and Sequoia Capital partner Jim Goetz.[6]
Products
Carbon is a vertically integrated manufacturer that offers its own software, hardware, and materials products that leverage Digital Light Synthesis™,[28] or DLS™, technology to produce isotropic end-use parts.
Hardware
Carbon hardware uses the same basic principles of DLS™ to produce isotropic parts.[29] All of Carbon’s hardware offerings are available as a subscription that includes service, support, and software upgrades. Different models have different build areas for building either more parts or larger parts. All the devices are connected to the cloud by default to allow for predictive maintenance, remote monitoring and control, and over-the-air software updates.
M1 Printer
The Carbon M1 printer was Carbon’s first offering, which has since been replaced by the M2[30] as Carbon’s general-purpose printing device. It could produce parts sized up to 144 millimeters x 81 millimeters x 330 millimeters, with the light engine display LED using 75μm pixels. The printer supports using a variety of resin materials, including some already in production commercial applications.[31]
M2 Series Printer
The Carbon M2 printer can produce parts larger than the original M1 printer, up to 189mm x 118mm x 326mm, with the same 75μm resolution. The M2d is an entry-level device for dental labs[32] with the same base hardware as the M2 except for a smaller build area for lower throughput. The M2d printer is upgradable to an M2 printer.
Smart Part Washer
The Smart Part Washer machine washes, serializes, and data-scans parts to automatically record production information.[33]
Materials
All Carbon materials are sold as a liquid resin.[36] Each material is cured by UV light, which defines the overall geometry, and the engineering-grade resins have a secondary thermal cure, which sets the final material properties. Prototyping and modeling resins undergo only the UV cure.
Family | Abbreviation | Details |
---|---|---|
Rigid Polyurethane | RPU | Rigid, dual cure |
Epoxy | EPX | Rigid, dual cure |
Elastomeric Polyurethane | EPU | Elastomer, dual cure |
Silicone Urethane | SIL | Elastomer, dual cure |
Medical Polyurethane | MPU | Rigid, dual cure |
Cyanate Ester | CE | Rigid, dual cure |
Flexible Polyurethane | FPU | Semi-rigid, dual cure |
Urethane Methacrylate | UMA | Rigid, dual cure |
Dental Production | DPR | Rigid, dual cure |
Vendor | Material name |
---|---|
DENTCA | Denture Base II |
DENTCA | Denture Teeth |
DENTCA | Denture Try-In |
Dreve | FotoDent® tray |
Dreve | FotoDent® gingiva |
References
- DeSimone, Joseph, What if 3D printing was 100x faster?, retrieved 2019-05-29
- "Carbon® Goes Global with First Fully Integrated Digital Manufacturing Platform for Dental Market". Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Adidas Uses Carbon's 3D Printing to Mass-Produce Futurecraft 4D Shoes". www.engineering.com. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "About Carbon - Who We Are & Our Vision". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- Joseph DeSimone (2015-03-19). "What if 3D printing was 100x faster?". TED Talks. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
- Kolodny, Lora (15 September 2016). "Carbon raises $81 million for international expansion of its rapid 3D-printing tech". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- "Technology Pioneers 2015 - World Economic Forum". widgets.weforum.org. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "The 50 Smartest Companies of 2017 might not be what you think". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- Wilson, Mark (2017-09-11). "How Adidas Cracked The Code Of 3D-Printed Shoes". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Why Ford is partnering with a hot 3D printing startup". Fortune. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- McKenna, Beth (2016-01-24). "Sorry, 3D Systems: Carbon3D Is Johnson & Johnson's New 3D Printing Partner". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- "Carbon Announces JJDC as Additional Investor in $200 Million Funding Round". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- Schubarth, Cromwell (20 December 2017). "3D printing unicorn raising $200M from Adidas, others, at $1.7B valuation". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- Davies, Sam (2018-03-08). "Vitamix redesigns blender cleansing nozzle with Carbon 3D printing technology". TCT Magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- "Vitamix produces 10x more durable parts at-scale with Carbon". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Riddell Partners with Carbon® to Produce First-Ever 3D Printed Football Helmet Liner". www.businesswire.com. 2019-02-01. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Carbon is 3D printing custom football helmet liners for Riddell". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- Davies, Sam (2019-02-11). "Lamborghini unveils end-use components produced with Carbon 3D printing technology". TCT Magazine. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- "Carbon and Automobili Lamborghini Partner to Digitally Manufacture Auto Parts at Scale". www.businesswire.com. 2019-02-11. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Craig Carlson, VP of Engineering". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Legendary Silicon Valley Deal Maker, Josh Green, Joins Carbon As General Counsel". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Carbon Announces Strategic Updates to Its Board of Directors, Names New Chief Financial Officer". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- Rooney, Jenny. "Next-Generation CMO Dara Treseder Moves To 3-D Manufacturing Company Carbon". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Carbon's new CEO discusses local manufacturing, funding and a potential IPO". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
- Saric, Iska. "Carbon Appoints Ellen Kullman President and CEO, Dr. Joseph DeSimone Named Executive Chairman". Business Wire. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
- Stankiewicz, Kevin (2019-11-26). "How 3D printing company Carbon is trying to shape the future of manufacturing". CNBC. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- McKenna, Beth (2015-06-20). "Can Former Ford CEO Alan Mulally Help Drive Carbon3D to the Front of the 3D Printing Company Pack?". The Motley Fool. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
- "Carbon - The Future of 3D Manufacturing Printers & Systems". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Hardware". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "Carbon reinforces dental drive with launch of M2d 3D printer, new materials and software". 3D Printing Industry. 2019-02-25. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- Fameli, Joey (2016-05-16). "Meet the Carbon M1 Super Fast 3D Printer". Adam Savage's Tested.com. Retrieved 2016-05-30.
- "Revolutionizing Dental Labs" (PDF). Carbon.com. April 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-05-29.
- Kolodny, Lora (March 6, 2017). "Carbon moves into high-volume manufacturing with SpeedCell system, and bigger 3D printers – TechCrunch". techcrunch.com. Retrieved 2018-06-22.
- "Adidas 40: Feel the Future". Adidas.com. May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
- "#ProtectItAll - Introducing Riddell® Diamond Technology powered by Carbon®". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.
- "The perfect fit: Carbon + adidas collaborate to upend athletic footwear". Carbon. Retrieved 2019-05-29.