In 2014 UnionFab was created to meet market demands and began supplying 3D printing suppliers. Fast forward to today, and UnionFab now has the largest 3D printing factory in China. More than 450 industrial 3D printers are used to serve approximately 40,000 customers.
Industrial 3D printing processes by UnionFab. Photo by UnionFab.I sat down with Allen Yang, CEO of UnionFab, to understand how the company has grown so quickly and is now able to serve key customers including Tesla and Huwai, and to get some insight into current industry trends. 3D printing.
"From the beginning, at UnionFab, we have been focused on improving the standard, efficiency, and speed of 3D printing," says Allen Yang. “We have key technical personnel in China who have come up with tips to improve speed, quality and service,” he says. In fact, UnionFab has more than a thousand satisfied customers since it began supplying international buyers with 3D printing suppliers in 2021.
3D printing suppliers are not limited to polymers. UnionFab started providing steel 3D printing four years ago and developed the post-processing techniques including CNC methods, steel components and guaranteed high resolution and good tolerances. The turnaround time for small volume metal 3D printing orders is very short - for orders of less than 100 components it is between 2 and 4 days. UnionFab's CEO wants to assure me that speed doesn't come at the expense of quality.
The secret to UnionFab's rapid progress is twofold. One of the advantages "is a wide variety of materials and a large number of machines, which allows us to mass produce in a short time." 3D printing techniques available to buyers include SLA, SLM, SLS, MJF and Polyjet. Second, UnionFab faces strong cost competition “because these are our machines and we use our own materials. Products from China are simply cheaper! We do a lot of value analysis to make sure we are very aggressive, we are 70% cheaper than our European or American competitors.
These benefits translate into a number of customer benefits. "Most importantly, they don't seem nervous about their job failing. We try to do this with a group of experienced engineers, we make all the offers for the jobs so they can be done. And communicate to let the customer know if something is missing." This is supported by post-print inspection: "Our high quality checks are crucial, we now have techniques in place to ensure that four arms perform the standard check. , when the work is sent, four people saw it.Third, we have good after-sales service.If there are any problems, we will refund or make new ones.
Underlining the goal, Aaron Appiah, Director of International Operations, says, “We don't mess with aftermarket companies. If we can, we will. If you are not satisfied, we will not think of reprinting it. But that doesn't happen often, the outlook could be comfortable.
Working with UnionFab is easy. Prospects can visit the website, add content design files, and get a quote right away. Once manufacturing begins, updates will be offered with shipping details. English technical support is available via real-time online chat in the market.
Customers can be divided into prototyping customers, who are earlier in the product design lifecycle, and those who are in production. “We have a buyer who needs to manufacture steel elements for cooling strategies. We made over 20,000 parts to increase cooling efficiency – efficiency increased by 400%, parts could only be made by metal 3D printing,” says Allen Yang.
With such a huge workforce, UnionFab is well placed to provide insight into broader developments in the 3D printing industry. "Trends range from prototyping to end user manufacturing, now nearly 40% of our components are for end use," says Aaron Appiah. Another trend is that small batch manufacturing has increased dramatically, with part orders now running into the tons and into the thousands. This is because prices have fallen about 20 times, according to the director of international operations.
What's next for Unionfab? "We want to be the best provider of overseas leads and give the world access to high-quality skills from China," says the CEO. UnionFab says it will “introduce CNC, molding and other skills from the most efficient suppliers in China as a main focus of our goal to help our buyer have a very fast turnaround time.” It can be done for "good service with a lot of process".
The second objective is to ensure that the manufacture of end-use parts is done for the long term. For this, UnionFab sees the “need to develop better deliveries with high functionality for true semi-production. For metals, we need to lower prices and shift printing to making real parts. Sooner or later, “our goal is to make 3D printing a complete supply chain solution,” adds Appiah.
Want to see how UnionFab measures up to different 3D printing service providers?
Currently , UnionFab offers customers the option to order half under $25 for free, paying only shipping and customs. Click here to try the offer
Unionfab hopes to build a global alliance of the 3D printing manufacturing community and its partners in the manufacturing community alliance has three advantages:
1. Get affordable printing service from Unionfab 2. Get the nearest print service order distributed by Unionfab 3. Get free access to the real-time 3D printing quote system developed by Unionfab.
Learn more about Unionfab's international 3D printing manufacturing network alliance and be a part of it .