The Rise and Fall of a 3-D Printing Empire

The Rise and Fall of a 3-D Printing Empire

In the winter of 2020, Desktop Metal, a high-flying start-up just outside Boston, unveiled an industrial 3-D printer so powerful that it sounded like magic. The printer could make metal parts for jet engines, trucks and medical implants “at speeds so unheard-of,” one commercial declared, “that some people thought it wasn’t possible.” There was just one problem: That printer, the P-50, never worked well enough to sell. It was quietly shelved afte…

The Rise and Fall of a 3D Printing Empire

BURLINGTON, Mass. -- In the winter of 2020, Desktop Metal, a high-flying startup just outside Boston, unveiled an industrial 3D printer so powerful that it sounded like magic. The printer could make metal parts for jet engines, trucks and medical…