How Thermo Fisher Launched Their First AM Lab in Company History with B9Creations

Transforming Manufacturing Capability Through Strategic Partnership

When your core business has been thriving for 50+ years, but evolving customer demands reveal a critical capability gap, incremental improvement isn't enough. Thermo Fisher Scientific faced exactly this challenge: a booming high-volume plastics manufacturing business that couldn't serve customers asking for custom, low-volume components. Working with B9Creations, they built an entirely new production capability, the first AM lab and parallel production site in company history — launching a fully integrated plastics prototyping service that accelerated customer development by 3× while opening new markets they previously had to turn away.

The Challenge: Success That Created Constraints

The Core Business Reality

Thermo Fisher Scientific's traditional plastics manufacturing operation was performing exactly as designed. High-volume, standardized products like bottles and well plates rolled off injection molding lines at scales in the millions — efficient, profitable, and reliable.

But the market was shifting.

The Gap Between Capability and Demand

Life sciences, biotech, and pharma customers increasingly needed something different:

• Custom plastic components for specialized applications
• Low-volume production runs of hundreds or thousands (not millions)
• Rapid iteration for product development
• Fast time-to-market in an era of surging demand and re-shoring initiatives

The disconnect was stark: a single prototype through traditional processes could take up to two years to deliver.

The Strategic Problem

Thermo Fisher found themselves in an uncomfortable position:

• Turning profitable business away because their manufacturing model didn't support customization
• Missing opportunities in fast-growing segments of their core markets
• Unable to say "yes" to customers they already served and understood deeply

What they needed wasn't faster prototyping. They needed an entirely new parallel production capability —one that could bridge from custom design through early production runs, then seamlessly transition proven parts to traditional injection molding as volumes scaled.

The Vision: End-to-End Integration

Thermo Fisher's goal was ambitious: create a complete service offering spanning "From Idea toFull Scale Production" that would:

Technical Requirements

• Rapidly develop custom plastic components from concept through functional prototypes
• Support early production runs at commercial quality standards
• Enable seamless design transition to injection molding at scale
• Maintain regulatory compliance

Business Requirements

• 1-month timeline from idea to mold development readiness
• 9-month pathway to scaled manufacturing agreements
• Predictable, repeatable processes compatible with existing quality systems
• Ability to serve pre-launch projects while protecting traditional high-volume business

The Core Insight

This wasn't a hardware purchase. It was an organizational capability transformation requiring technology, process design, workforce development, and operational integration.

The Solution: Systems Integration Over Equipment Sales

Why B9Creations
Thermo Fisher conducted extensive testing across multiple additive manufacturing platforms. B9Creations emerged as the technology partner and systems integrator based on demonstrated performance:

• Most consistent tolerance control among evaluated systems
• Reliable, repeatable output critical for production environments
• Technology-agnostic partnership approach focused on outcomes, not just equipment sales

The Partnership Model

B9Creations approached this as a strategic solutions engagement as part of its Additive Advantage Model, not a product sale. The partnership extended across four critical dimensions:

1. Technology Ecosystem Integration

• B9Creations Core XL printers for high-precision plastic production
• B9Creations MPro system for specialized applications
• B9Creations post-processing equipment for finishing and quality control
• Non-B9Creations post-processing set-up
• Comprehensive materials testing to validate performance requirements

2. Process Architecture & Design

• Product development workflow design ensuring seamless progression from additive to traditional manufacturing
• Quality system protocols compatible with Thermo Fisher's certifications
• Design for Manufacturing (DfM) and Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) standards that reduced risk and increased first-time mold development success
• Production planning for predictability and repeatability at scale

3. Workforce Enablement

• Job description development for new additive manufacturing roles
• Training program design and delivery for production staff
• Knowledge transfer to ensure operational independence
• Organizational design guidance for cross-functional team structure

4. Strategic Market Positioning

• Articulation of complete value proposition for life sciences customers
• Service offering definition spanning design, prototyping, supply agreements, and scaled manufacturing
• Competitive differentiation based on end-to-end capabilities under one roof

The Results: From Constraint to Competitive Advantage

Quantified Business Impact

Speed to Market

• 3× acceleration in customer development timelines
• 1-month timeline from idea to mold development readiness (vs. up to 2 years previously)
• 9-month pathway to scaled manufacturing agreements

Market Access

• Now accepting pre-launch projects after years of turning custom work away
• New service line for life sciences, biotech, and pharma customers
• Revenue expansion without cannibalizing high-volume injection molding business

Operational Excellence

Quality & Compliance

• End-to-end design, prototyping, and scaled manufacturing capabilities under one roof
• Regulatory and quality services
• Certified facilities
• IEC 60601 medical equipment compliance with B9Creations printers
• ISO 10993 biocompatible B9Creations materials capability

Technology Progression

• Seamless pathway from FDM concept models → high-precision B9Creations parts → final injection-molded components
• Custom QC services including metrology and regulatory consultations
• Low-fidelity prototypes for early feedback and high-fidelity prototypes for validation

Strategic Positioning

Market DifferentiationThermo Fisher Scientific Plastics Prototyping Services launched in 2026 with unique positioning:

• Only major life sciences supplier offering complete idea-to-production integration
• Proven track record serving molecular diagnostics, assay development, and instrument consumables markets
• Ability to scale from prototype through early production to millions of units

Customer Impact

• Faster learning through rapid iteration cycles
• Faster iteration with 1-month design sprints
• Faster impact with accelerated time-to-market
• Increased confidence from working with a trusted partner who understands both prototyping and production at scale

The Broader Lesson: What Manufacturing Transformation Actually Requires

The Thermo Fisher partnership demonstrates that building new manufacturing capabilities requires more than installing equipment. Success factors included:

1. Performance-Based Technology Selection

Real-world testing and validation over specification sheets. B9Creations won the technology evaluation based on demonstrated consistency in tolerance and reliability, the metrics that actually matter in production environments.

2. Process Integration

Respecting existing operations while creating new pathways. The parallel production model didn't disrupt Thermo Fisher's high-volume injection molding business; it complemented it by serving different customer needs.

3. Organizational Readiness

Workforce development, operational design, and cross-functional alignment were as critical as the technology itself. B9Creations' support extended to writing job descriptions and training programs, activities that rarely appear in equipment sales engagements.

4. Outcome Focus Over Output Focus

The goal wasn't "install printers." The goal was "enable Thermo Fisher to say yes to customers they previously had to turn away while accelerating development timelines by 3×." This distinction shaped every partnership decision.

5. Technology-Agnostic Systems Integration

B9Creations recommended and integrated FDM systems alongside their own equipment because the engagement focused on customer outcomes, not vendor preference. This approach built trust and demonstrated commitment to Thermo Fisher's success over equipment sales.

Looking Forward: A Platform for Growth

Thermo Fisher Scientific Plastics Prototyping Services isn't just solving today's problem—it's creating a platform for future capabilities:

• Market position as a complete solution provider from prototype to production
• Customer relationships deepened through expanded service offerings
• Organizational capabilities that can evolve with future manufacturing technologies
• Revenue diversification across volume scales and customer segments

Most importantly, they transformed a strategic constraint – "We can't serve custom, low-volume needs" — intoa competitive advantage: "We're the only partner who can take you from idea to full-scale production under one roof."

Conclusion: This Is What Manufacturing Predictability Looks Like

When Thermo Fisher needed to build an entirely new production capability, they didn't just buy equipment. They partnered with B9Creations, as a systems integrator, to:

• Select the right technology based on real-world performance
• Design processes that integrated with existing operations
• Develop the workforce and organizational structures to operate reliably
• Create a market-differentiating service offering

The result: a parallel production pathway that accelerates customer development by 3×, enables Thermo Fisher to serve markets they previously had to turn away, and delivers predictable, repeatable results from prototype through production.

That's the power of approaching additive manufacturing as an organizational capability transformation—not just a technology installation.

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