Anyone who comes to Hamburg for the first time is automatically impressed by its combination of history and modernity, its port, its canals, its bridges, its lake, etc. In my case, I remember like yesterday that cold day in December when I visited the city for the first time and sailed the Elbe at night. The incessant ship traffic, the constellation of red beacons of the gantry cranes, the night view of the urban front proudly leaning on the edge of the river, the Speicherstadt in the background as a witness to a city that historically coveted the oceans. All that sequence quickly impregnated my spirit and in a few hours I knew that I was going to put in the necessary means and effort to stay here.
Hamburg is a vibrant, dynamic city, with a clear vocation as a global city, full of industry and leading companies. Its people are warm and open to visitors, blowing up the foreigner’s cliché of cold and distant germans.
The history of this city, from its membership of the Hanseatic League in the Middle Ages, through its unquestionable role in the golden age of sailing and the beginnings of modern navigation, as well as its vertiginous reconstruction after the bombings of the Second World War to being today the third largest port in Europe, is a seal of approval of its infinite momentum towards the trade and the navigation.
Today the city of Hamburg aspires to be a global hub for logistics and maritime innovation. To this end, it develops a series of strategies to promote and attract highly innovative companies, as well as creates an innovative ecosystem around port and logistics activity.
We, the founders of 3Dock, arrived from Spain in Hamburg almost a decade ago today, attracted by the superb German industry of production yachts and superyachts, with the idea of developing a competitive and accelerated career.
Now we begin this risky and interesting journey of putting together a start-up based on knowledge and physical products from a city that we love like our own home. And we do so with all the humility and the genuine intention of putting our effort and knowledge at the service of progress in an industry that cries out for a profound and immediate transformation.
Additive manufacturing, popularly known as 3D printing, is one of the pillars of the next industrial revolution. The on-demand production of components without complex production processes is just one of the many advantages that additive manufacturing promises to offer. In the medical or aeronautical sectors it has already demonstrated its clear superiority over a series of processes, which it is rapidly replacing. In some cases, there are already products that cannot be conceived to be produced in any other way.
However this is not the case of the maritime industry, which suffers from a significant delay in the implementation of this technology in its processes. Among other things, both the technology, the market and its suppliers have evolved oriented to other industries and more thriving segments. Our mission at 3Dock is to buck this trend and break the entry barrier for additive manufacturing in the maritime industry. We want to provide our customers with a turnkey solution to introduce industrial grade printed components into their products, making processes more flexible and reducing time to market like never before.
Carrying out the real implementation of additive manufacturing in the maritime industry requires a broad and deep action, which goes beyond machines and software. Access to the innovative network provided by the city of Hamburg, together with access to suppliers and talent of the highest level in Germany, puts us in good position to address the challenge with precision, quality and guarantee. This is, after all, what lies behind the coveted “Made in Germany” label. Producing a technological good with the highest level of execution transcends the capabilities of a specific manufacturer or brand, but is the result of long-term cooperation between industry, academia, organizations and the state systematically oriented towards achieving the highest degrees of innovation and productivity.
On the other hand, a favorable market is essential to materialize the results. Europe has a highly innovative maritime industry that offers products and services with very high added value. Working and improving hand in hand with our clients is key to building the success of our operations.