Answer extracted from the Inspiring Industry Podcast — listen to the full episode below.
Why should manufacturers evaluate and adopt new 3D printing technologies rather than rely solely on traditional casting?
The manufacturing sector is moving forward through digital innovation and new technologies, but success requires manufacturers to evaluate new solutions quickly and make decisive commitments. If you hesitate while competitors adopt them, you risk losing competitive ground—not because the technology is guaranteed to work for everyone, but because speed and adaptability now define market leadership.
Casting has dominated manufacturing for 5,000 years, and that longevity creates natural reluctance to change. Yet the question manufacturers face today is not whether to abandon all traditional methods, but rather which parts and applications benefit most from a faster approach. As Byron Kennedy explains in the episode, the real cost of inaction shows up in critical downtime situations—on a mine site, a single unavailable part can cost a million dollars per day.
Why speed matters more than you think
Traditional manufacturing requires expensive infrastructure: moulds, large factories, and capital-intensive equipment. 3D printing removes that barrier. When you eliminate the need for a mould, you no longer need that massive facility or that heavy upfront investment to manufacture parts. Instead, you can build them on-demand and on-location when the need arises.
This shift is especially powerful in remote operations—mining sites, offshore rigs, military field deployments—where supply chains are fragile and delays are expensive. A four-ton printer, roughly the size of a small car, can now sit on location and produce critical components in hours instead of weeks.
The competitive window is narrow
Kennedy's core advice is direct: test the technology, make a yes-or-no decision, then move forward. Don't get caught evaluating indefinitely. The risk isn't adopting a technology that turns out to be wrong for your application—the risk is waiting too long to find out, while competitors deploy it and lock in the advantage.
A point Kennedy emphasizes throughout the episode is that the Australian Army approached SPEE3D first not because they knew 3D printing was perfect for all defense needs, but because they were willing to trial it, measure results, and scale what worked. That operational mindset—rapid evaluation, decisive action—is now how the sector leaders move.
"You can eliminate that mould. You don't need that mould. And suddenly you don't need a big factory and you don't need a lot of capital intensive equipment to be able to manufacture parts anymore."
Byron Kennedy — Co-founder, SPEE3D. Kennedy and his long-term partner Steve Committery founded SPEE3D after 10 years working in traditional manufacturing, where they discovered that metal 3D printing technology could be radically faster and more accessible than existing alternatives. The company now supplies systems to five defense forces globally and is expanding into mining, oil and gas, and heavy industry.
The broader conversation in the full episode covers how SPEE3D's systems deliver 100 to 1,000 times faster manufacturing than competing metal 3D printing technologies—a capability that shifts the economics entirely for commodity parts and urgent repairs.
Key takeaways
- Evaluate new manufacturing technologies quickly, then commit to a clear yes-or-no decision rather than endless deliberation.
- If you delay adoption while competitors move forward, you surrender first-mover advantage in your supply chain and operational resilience.
- 3D printing's real advantage lies in eliminating expensive moulds and factories, enabling on-location, on-demand production for critical parts.
- Downtime costs in remote operations (mines, offshore) can exceed a million dollars per day—a metric that justifies rapid technology evaluation.
See also
What are the primary industrial sectors SPEE3D is targeting for growth beyond defense?
In 2024, SPEE3D is focusing on heavy industry sectors including mining, oil and gas, rail, marine, and automotive—industries facing severe supply chain challenges where rapid parts manufacturing provides competitive advantage.
How does leadership philosophy influence talent attraction and team motivation at SPEE3D?
Kennedy and Steve follow the leadership philosophies from Jim Collins' book 'Good to Great,' emphasizing mathematical rigor and evidence-based decision-making to build a high-performance culture.
What is SPEE3D's unique market positioning within the broader 3D printing industry?
Unlike the metal 3D printing industry which focused on slow, very precise or very complex parts, SPEE3D targeted commodity, low-cost, fast parts—delivering 100 to 1,000 times faster manufacturing than competing technologies.