Bram de Zwart CEO and Cofounder, 3D Hubs​

Since its inception in 2013, 3D Hubs has produced more than 4 million parts. The European business is backed by Uber, Spotify, Booking.com, and Tony Fadell — the inventor of the iPod, coinventor of the iPhone and founder of Nest — with clients including NASA, Audi, HP, and ABB.

As the world’s largest decentralized manufacturing platform, 3D Hubs’ mission is to modernize the outdated centralized manufacturing and supply-chain model by creating automated and resilient supply chains and democratizing the industry. Bit by bit, 3D Hubs is changing the sector as a whole, with many businesses opting for its on-demand access model to overcome traditional manufacturing issues.

“The manufacturing industry is more volatile than ever, and nobody knows how bad the next batch of disruptions might be,” Zwart tells Business Insider. “The US-China trade war, a no-deal Brexit, further waves of COVID-19, all pose an unprecedented threat to companies’ supply chains at a time where stability is vital.”

While other sectors have rapidly digitalized, supply chains are often unable to adapt. 3D Hubs’ “Supply Chain Resilience Report 2020” says COVID-19 has been five times as disruptive to supply chains as cyberattacks, with six out of 10 businesses now targeting geographic diversification of supply chains as a result.

Zwart adds: “I aspire to make automated, globally distributed supply chains a reality, empowering companies to build a resilient and intelligent supply chain that can absorb any future shocks.”