Signify is slowly revealing more of its commercial-scale 3D-printing program, launching the consumer-focused offering “Philips MyCreation” in the Netherlands and Germany. MyCreation allows home consumers to mix and match from a massive variety of styles and colors to build their perfect decorative pendant, which is then 3D-printed and shipped upon order.

Kudos to my many former colleagues involved with bringing this to market! This took many years of development at Philips Research, Philips Design and Philips Lighting Ventures to launch. Many dedicated team members stayed focused and true to the vision to achieve this!

Without giving away any of the team’s proprietary secrets, I would like to point out three big things about this offering that will leave many in the lighting industry (even the broader consumer-products industry) dumbstruck about Signify’s lead in 3D-printing technology:

Size: This is 3D-printed???

First, look at the size of the products. These are huge pendants – over 40cm in diameter and over 30 cm tall. These are not the “trinket” sized products typical from 3D printing.

Design: This is 3D-printed???

Second, look at the beautiful range of colors and finishes offered, plus the gorgeous, precise layers, patterns and textural effects the team has achieved in the 3D printing and manufacturing of the product.

Price: This is 3D-printed???

Finally, look at the price – well under 150 Euros! No commercial 3D-printed offering has ever come close to such a low price point – you could add a zero or two to that price tag for any previous consumer-ready 3D-printed products.

But wait, there’s more!

The corporate venture at Signify behind 3D-printing has been hiding this stuff in plain sight for a couple years now. At Euroshop 2017, they quietly debuted 3D-printed pendants in the booth:

Last year, the team quietly launched commercial spec-grade products under the monikor of “Tailored Lighting Creations“, but didn’t disclose it was 3D-printed. So I don’t think many folks in the lighting industry understood the implications of that launch. Downlights, track fixtures, even huge highbays — all the usual suspects are available in the range and have already been used in many real-world projects.

The promise of 3D-printing arrives…

With Signify’s consumer pendants line openly promoted as a 3D-printed offering, Signify’s impressive additive manufacturing capabilities will soon be the talk of the industry. Low-cost Asian manufacturing simply cannot compete against a local, low-cost, print-on-demand supply chain.