back to article HP Inc-eption: Our new 3D printers print themselves, says CEO

Just like Leonardo DiCaprio and his photogenic pals crafted dream worlds out of dream worlds in the hit flick Inception, we're told HP Ink prints its 3D printers using its 3D printers. Take one of HP Ink's new and expensive 3D printers, and you can print out half of the components needed to build another one, CEO Dion Weisler …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    SpaceX ??????????

    Weisler was extremely enthusiastic about his new printers, describing them as "incredible innovation." SpaceX was not available for immediate comment.

    Why would you want SpaceX to comment?

    1. frank ly

      Re: SpaceX ??????????

      That was sarcasm. The implication being that SpaceX is an example of a company that really does show 'incredible innovation'.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Re: SpaceX ??????????

        Can't you print missile pieces with this new printer? What a delusion, I was going to buy one just for this....

    2. Keith Glass

      Re: SpaceX ??????????

      Probably because SpaceX has been 3D-printing most of their "SuperDraco" engine for the Falcon-class launchers.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SuperDraco

      Seen one of those SpaceX boosters land under power ? SuperDraco engines.

      So, HP's "incredible innovation" is routine production for SpaceX. . .

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: SpaceX ??????????

        This has been "routine production" for more and more companies making very low volume products. SpaceX wasn't the first to use 3D printing as part of their manufacturing process.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A move James Burke

    predicted about 4 years ago, IIRC. The mans a legend.

  3. Cuddles

    Manufacturing device able to manufacture things!

    In other news, you can use an axe to cut a handle for an axe, and a hammer to shape the head of a hammer. How the is "thing that prints plastic is able to print plastic" supposed to be news?

    1. Lee D Silver badge

      Re: Manufacturing device able to manufacture things!

      In the same way that when a compiler is able to compile its own source - a milestone to indicate completeness and viability. It's so complete in functionality that it's capable of self-replicating.

  4. inmypjs Silver badge

    "Fifty per cent of the bill of materials of our 3D printers are printed by our 3D printers"

    If that is true I wouldn't be bragging about it.

    It means they don't have enough volume to tool up to make cheaper parts and so cheaper printers.

    1. g00se

      Re: "Fifty per cent of the bill of materials of our 3D printers are printed by our 3D printers"

      You got my upvote because you're right but they can probably count on only a minuscule number of their targets to know that, so they'll brag anyway.

      Personally, if i didn't feel i was being bilked by the likes of HP or if i didn't require a degree in statistical analysis to figure out how to get value for money ( if indeed that's possible ), i'd do a lot more printing instead of avoiding it like the proverbial.

    2. Tom Womack

      Re: "Fifty per cent of the bill of materials of our 3D printers are printed by our 3D printers"

      And that's the case for an awful lot of situations. There are an enormous number of objects for which the total size of the market is smaller than the minimum lot size for the most efficient manufacturing processes.

      Being able to move away from using standard parts which aren't quite the right size but are produced efficiently in huge volume by some commoditised supplier, to using parts which are exactly what you need and are produced efficiently-enough in the volume you need is super.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: "Fifty per cent of the bill of materials of our 3D printers are printed by our 3D printers"

        No one is surprised that the production volume of a $120,000 device is small, and thus parts for it expensive to make. The fact they're 3D printing so many parts is a GOOD thing, one it shows that the parts are of a high enough quality to be used in something that sells for that much. Two, it shows that they can be produced cheaply enough that they beat the cost of manufacturing them traditionally at the device's selling price.

        As 3D printing gets cheaper the minimum production volume where traditional manufacturing is cheaper will become higher and higher. That's a good thing, as it means such products will cost less than they do today - or be available at all if the products can't be made cheap enough for the price people are willing to pay!

      2. inmypjs Silver badge

        Re: "Fifty per cent of the bill of materials of our 3D printers are printed by our 3D printers"

        The printers take an hour to print something with a 1" smallest dimension, and have a 16" x 12" build area for those things.

        Injection moulding uses a cheaper machine, cheaper materials (with more choice), will be much much less fussy about working environment and maintenance and be about 700 times faster for 1" objects and 1400 faster for 2" objects.

        I would be surprised if injection moulding isn't cheaper after a few hundred build areas. Do you run a 3D printer non-stop for 4 weeks or make a tool and run an injection moulder for an hour?

        Is HP really only going to sell a few hundred printers? Not going to make much impact on that claimed $4 billion market from the other recent article.

        You can't have it both ways if they sell a lot of printers because they are good they won't be 3D printing parts for them. If you believe the statement that they are 3D printing parts for them then the printers are not much good.

  5. JeffyPoooh
    Pint

    Stupid hype = "...our printers are printing themselves."

    CEO Dion Weisler - "Fifty per cent of the bill of materials of our 3D printers are printed by our 3D printers. So our printers are printing themselves."

    @CEO Dion Weisler: No they're not, you daft moron. 50% .NE. 100%.

    Not to mention that the bits that are 3D Printed would be the cheap plastic bits. Not the complicated mechanisms and circuit boards.

    Stupid hype from a stupid CEO.

    If El Reg is going to publish this rubbish, the least that they could do is mock it.

  6. Mpeler
    Mushroom

    3D Print-ee

    Nit-Whitman &co. are just waiting until they can 3D print people.

    (Yes, I know, but she's Chairman of the Inky bits too)...

  7. Christian Berger

    Actually they have such printers

    They have printers for "digital printing" which can work with the same types of ink you have at companies printing money. So it should be possible, given the right paper and inks, to print money.

  8. Cynic_999

    Not at all impressive

    50% of the Bill of Materials probably means half of the total *number* of parts, and while some parts in the BoM will be complex and expensive mechanisms or sub-assemblies that are still being counted as a single part (e.g. an electric motor or a populated PCB), many will be cheap & simple such as fasteners and clips - and I bet I know what type are being printed.

  9. Vic

    Is this really news?

    The RepRap has been printing its own parts for years.

    HP has had one of those reverse premonitions again...

    Vic.

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