Additive manufacturing processes, also known as 3D printing, are increasingly becoming the focus of industrial applications and represent significant potential for small and medium-sized enterprises in Germany.
To this end, the Lower Rhine 3D Competence Centre at Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences is driving forward the transfer of knowledge, innovation and technology between the worlds of research and industry. Through a variety of event formats tailored to different target groups, the possibilities offered by digital manufacturing processes are showcased, new technological developments are presented, and their economic and social relevance is discussed.
To this end, the FabTalks lecture series was launched, amongst other initiatives, in which international guest speakers present particularly innovative aspects of digital fabrication to a wider audience. Peter Troxler will be the guest speaker on 4 December 2017 at 6.00 pm. His topic: ‘Fabbers are creating new business models’. The event will take place at the Kamp-Lintfort campus of Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences, Friedrich-Heinrich-Allee 25, in Building 1, Audimax, Room 01 00 115.
Peter Troxler is an expert on FabLabs, additive manufacturing and open manufacturing. As an independent researcher, he investigates how new technologies and forms of work and organisation are transforming the economy. When digital fabricators (or ‘fabbers’ for short) design their own business models, the focus is often not purely on making money, but also on becoming part of the so-called open-source community. On the one hand, this means that fabbers seek to incorporate rules from this community into their business models. On the other hand, they regard not only their customers as part of the community, but also suppliers, employees and even potential competitors. Fabbers are developing new ways to exchange goods, services and knowledge with like-minded individuals.
