3D printing spans a vast array of industrial applications, from prototyping and electrical components to use cases in aerospace, automotive, medtech, energy, and beyond.
In the Netherlands, 3devo is redefining the boundaries of 3D printing. As an industry-leading advanced filament extrusion solutions company, this Dutch tech enterprise has established itself as a pivotal partner in the development of custom filaments.
Leveraging its expertise in materials and filament extrusion, 3devo is helping bring groundbreaking ideas to life, supporting their customers’ environmental sustainability goals, custom filament needs, and research and experimentation projects.
Bridging the Gap in Filament Development
"Say you need a material to 3D print with, but it doesn't exist yet. That's the problem we solved for," says Jelle Boon, lead engineer at 3devo.
The company addresses a key challenge in the 3D printing ecosystem: the need for customized materials in small, affordable batches. Traditional extrusion machines often require 10-20 kilograms of material to function, making initial testing costly and inefficient.
"Synthesis of custom polymers can go up to $5,000 for 100 grams," Boon explains.
3devo’s compact extrusion machines are designed to work with minimal material – as little as 50 grams – making it possible for researchers and developers to experiment and refine their formulations rapidly.
"It’s all scaled down, so it’s very easy to iterate quickly and know more about what the ideal setting would be," Boon says.
The Filament Maker TWO is designed to work anywhere, enabling faster, cheaper iterations of custom materials. The company’s machines mostly serve as research and development tools, enabling users to bridge the gap between prototyping and full-scale production. However, as Boon notes, 3devo’s potential extends further: "We’re moving a bit more towards the production side...customers that would normally consider other companies for their production needs are also considering us."
Democratizing Filament Production
One of the most compelling aspects of 3devo’s approach is its affordability and flexibility.
"They consider us because...you have way more freedom to tweak everything," Boon explains.
Instead of investing in a single large machine, customers can deploy multiple 3devo machines, each fine-tuned for a specific material. This modular approach not only saves costs but also provides unparalleled versatility.
With this approach, 3devo helps customers meet their sustainability and recycling goals. With their end-to-end recycling system, customers get everything needed to create high-quality filament from start to finish. Designed to be seamless, efficient, and empowering, their solution transforms recycling goals into achievable actions, all within one integrated setup.
While 3devo’s current focus remains on niche applications, Boon envisions a future where the company could play a larger role in addressing global plastic waste and environmental challenges.
"Our customers that have our machines, they’re really happy with it, but it will probably stay in that realm unless in the future we move more towards global plastic waste," he says.
A CAD Transformation: From SOLIDWORKS to Onshape
As innovators themselves, 3devo knows the importance of reliable tools. Their transition from SOLIDWORKS to Onshape in the last 18 months has been a game-changer.
"The biggest downtime [with SOLIDWORKS] is when the program just doesn’t work at all," Boon shares. Frequent updates and bugs with SOLIDWORKS hindered productivity, often turning simple tasks like designing brackets into hours of frustration.
The switch to Onshape CAD & PDM came at the suggestion of a new team member, who had used the platform for personal projects in the past.
Like many engineering teams accustomed to long-standing workflows, 3devo initially faced some resistance to change when exploring the move from SOLIDWORKS to Onshape.
"It wasn’t easy convincing everyone at first," Boon recalls. Team members were comfortable with the familiar, despite frustrations with SOLIDWORKS’ performance and cost. But, after a trial period, the rest of their 10-person engineering team was convinced that Onshape was the right CAD fit for them.
The breakthrough came through hands-on experience. "Seeing it in action made a huge difference," Boon says. Gradually, the team began to appreciate Onshape’s advantages, including its collaborative features and ease of use.
"Once they saw how it simplified our processes and saved time, the resistance faded," he adds.
3devo Customer Support Agent Benjámin Beregszászi, left, and R&D Engineer Jelle Boon, right, inspect the Filament Maker TWO. "It’s so user-friendly that within a week, you’re back on track," Boon recalls. The migration process, supported by Onshape’s team, was smooth and efficient, allowing 3devo to become operational very quickly.
“Everyone's quite happy with it,” Boon says. “I would say the advantages that it had over SOLIDWORKS were way bigger than the disadvantages. So, we’re really, really happy so far.”
Unlocking Efficiency and Collaboration
The benefits of Onshape go beyond user-friendliness. "The collaboration, the way our data is set up, is just a fresh breath of air," Boon says. With Onshape, multiple team members can work on the same drawing simultaneously, eliminating the need to close files and wait for access.
The shift wasn’t just about tools – it was a mindset change. Onshape’s cloud-native infrastructure and built-in Product Data Management (PDM) required the 3devo team to rethink how they accessed and managed their design files.
“What was mostly new to us was to learn how to think more from high-level to low-level instead of low to high,” Boon explains. “What I mean by that is, if you want to create an assembly in SOLIDWORKS, for example, you'd have to first create a sketch, then create a part from that sketch. Then, create an assembly file, import all the parts, and define their relations. But then, if you want to make a change in one of the parts, the other parts also need manual changes in most cases in order to not destroy the whole assembly.”
Onshape's built-in PDM stores all CAD data, including assemblies, drawings, BOMs, media images, videos, and PDFs. Onshape centralizes this data and keeps track of the entire access and edit history so users can easily revert back to any previous state of the design.
The CAD model of the Filament Maker TWO in Onshape. “In Onshape, you start from the assembly point of view and you include those part relations more in the first sketch, and it allows you to create multiple parts from that one sketch,” Boon says. “Furthermore, it allows you to apply other features on multiple parts. Although this way of thinking took a bit of time to get used to, it is definitely a much more logical, time-efficient, and error-minimizing approach.”
The cost savings were equally impressive. "I remember it was like $40,000 for one year for SOLIDWORKS...and right now, we had the first year 50% off for Onshape. I think it was $7,500 for a year and then next year $15,000, so that's a pretty big difference [from SOLIDWORKS]," Boon says.
For a company balancing innovation with financial prudence, the decision to switch was a no-brainer.
"There was a learning curve, but the support from Onshape’s team made it manageable," Boon shares. "By the end of the transition, everyone agreed it was worth it."
Looking Ahead
3devo’s journey is a testament to the power of innovation, adaptability, and a commitment to customer needs. From democratizing access to filament production to streamlining internal processes with Onshape, the company continues to set new standards in the 3D printing and custom filament industries.
For those considering a switch to Onshape, Boon has a simple recommendation: "Just try it and see how well it works. It’s 10 times better, 20 times better."
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