Meboldt: I could point to the invisible “aligners” offered by Invisalign, a company founded in San Jose, California in 1999 that now has sales exceeding 1.3 billion dollars. The founding principle of alignment treatment, the patent, goes all the way back to 1945. However, it was only with the advent of 3D printing and digital technology that it actually became efficient to produce the aligners.

Today, treatment begins with a mold of the patient’s teeth, which is subsequently scanned and digitalized. The orthodontist can then digitally manipulate how they want the teeth to shift over the course of the treatment. An exactly fitted aligner is printed for each stage of the treatment—12 in all, and all for a cheaper price than one traditional set of braces—and a much better match with what the customer needs.

Another example is the Swiss start-up Tailord Fits. They’ve just brought out the first tailor-made 3D printed ski boot.

Netland: Probably the best-known industry example is the injector for the LEAP engine for General Electric’s Boeing Dreamliner. It’s a relatively complicated component made up of many different individual parts. Before, it required up to 20 suppliers to manufacture. But if you produce the nozzle in one piece using additive techniques, suddenly all you need is one single supplier for the metal powder.

It all goes to show that disruption isn’t about the technology itself, but rather how the techniques are used for extremely specific applications.