Ex One Vision

The ability to transform materials from one form into another largely defines how we live – impacting both the quality of our lives, as consumers, and the structure of society, as producers, of products. This transformation is the task of “manufacturing.” Not surprisingly, manufacturing - even narrowly defined - comprises the largest sector of the economies of advanced nations and is the “engine” of the entire global economy.

Increasingly, the lines between “manufacturing” & construction, agriculture & even surgical procedures are converging, for they all seek to positively transform man-made, natural and biological materials.

With the recent dramatic acceleration of the accessibility and growth of human knowledge, we are at a moment of historic change in both the products we make and the production methods we employ to make them.

The much lower cost of labor in emerging industrial nations and the increasing costs and risks of inventories and transportation drive us to “point of use” manufacturing using free-form fabrication processes in which production scale is irrelevant and lot quantities of X1 are just as efficient as X1000. Today, that means making functional prototypes and critical military spare parts without tooling. Tomorrow, it will mean making virtually anything where it’s needed, when it’s needed, without inventory or shipping.

Geometry constraints and material waste inherent in generating objects via “subtractive” machining methods will give way to free-form fabrication processes that can provide complex shapes and features that enable cooling, heating, filtration, porting or venting, as well as provide savings in material and weight. This indifference to design complexity allows reduced part count and reduced assembly costs and, most importantly, opportunities for increased functionality. Today, that means molds for metal casting or plastic injection molding with gating, venting, heating and cooling beyond anything previously possible.

Tomorrow, it will mean fewer, more complex components for auto, truck & aircraft engines that cool, lubricate and / or monitor themselves and are lighter, stronger & more durable. As the world’s population and economies grow, demand steadily grows for its finite supply of materials and energy. The demand for smaller products and features is driven by the steadily accelerating costs of materials. Coupled with the enhanced value that these portable and convenient devices possess, demand for these specialized, smaller products will continue to rise. Smaller devices, as well as smaller features that, because of their size offer previously unachievable functionality and precision, demand processes capable of machining and fabricating on a “micro” scale. Today, that means the ability to economically produce high precision diesel injector orifices with diameters below 100 microns in a few seconds and to fabricate more precise, custom-fitted dental crowns in a few hours. Tomorrow, it will mean an entirely new menu of products including implantable communication and medical devices and high precision, barely invasive, surgical tools much smaller than today’s arthroscopic tools.

Producing “spare parts” for the human body is an already well-established practice in the dental industry. Ex One’s imagen™ product line enhances the precision, strength, speed and traceability of producing the most precise components in dental restorations - generating automatically in hours what previously took many days. Ex One’s free-form fabrication & micro-machining processes promise to extend that capability to produce human biological constructs and tissue scaffolds that may someday offer patients in need of a liver, a lung or a pancreas new hope through the ability of these processes to mimic the geometric complexity and microscopic features of natural organs in biocompatible materials. Working with renowned partners at the frontier of regenerative medicine, Ex One is devoting its unique skills, collaborative experience and creative energy to help to make these dreams realities.

– Larry J. Rhoades

Founder - The Ex One Company, LLC