Friday, October 4th, was National Manufacturing Day and what a better way to celebrate than exhibiting at the very first Made In America Show in Indianapolis. The show went from Thursday through Sunday at the Indiana Convention Center. Thousands of manufacturers, inventors, and entrepreneurs got together to celebrate products and machines made in America.
The 3D Printing Store had a unique experience as the only 3D printing company to have a booth at the show. We received a lot of attention from both attendees and exhibitors. Both sides, came to us with different ideas for their products and inventions, but didn’t have a plan for getting them made. They were excited to learn that we offer so many different ways with which we can help with their designs and prototypes.
Our advantage was that few companies at Made in America understood how 3D printing applied to their manufacturing processes, so we brought the Mark 2 desktop 3D printer from Markforged with us to run live printing demonstrations for attendees. Exhibiting with us was three of our success stories, each showcasing the inventions that we helped successfully manufacture for them over the years. All three got to share their inventions with attendees and tell their story about how The 3D Printing Store helped take them from initial drawings to a complete 3D design, and ultimately, a final product. One of the success stories exhibiting with us in our booth was BulbNest which is a product that offers an easy and convenient way to store light bulbs. After numerous iterations of drawings and initial prototypes, we’re happy to be a part of BulbNest’s successfully launched product on Amazon. Below are some examples that highlight the progression of BulbNest, including one of the very first drawings brought to us before we started working together.
Allowing attendees to explore the actual technology in our booth with many 3D printing success stories was a great way to showcase the advantages that 3D printing offers inventors and entrepreneurs looking to fulfill their own American dreams. Often it’s too expensive for start-ups to work with traditional manufacturers right out the gate and 3D printing gives businesses a more cost-effective way to create new products. That is exactly what this show was about– getting like-minded entrepreneurs together that are passionate about finding new, innovative ways to build quality products that are cost-effective, specifically in America.
American Made Products That We Came Across:
MB Sentinel
MB Sentinel invented a parcel safe that protects packages from “porch pirates,” which is increasingly a growing problem across the country. Each parcel safe has a keypad entry system that is lined with durable closed-cell foam. They also have a radiant barrier to keep food deliveries fresh– even in the summer sun. Each parcel safe can be anchored to a concrete pad or the side of your home so you can rest assured that no one is going anywhere with your packages.
Masley Gloves
Masley Gloves makes industrial gloves for professionals working in the military, law enforcement, as well as recreation snow and ski sports. Each glove is custom fit to any hand size and specifically designed to keep you comfortable in both cold and wet weather.
CaddyLock
CaddyLock was another exhibitor with a product designed to prevent theft. Instead, this product is made specifically for the golf industry. Each year, millions of dollars in golf clubs are stolen from unattended golf carts; this company invented a lock system that attaches to the back of golf carts to keep your clubs safe.
Fisher Space Pen
Fisher Space Pen’s booth highlighted their patented space pens. The pens use a sealed and pressurized ink cartridge that were first launched into space on the Apollo 7 mission in 1968. Since then, these pens have been on every manned NASA space flight and we hope to see them at the 36th Space Symposium coming up next April.
