How Invisalign Became the World's Biggest User of 3D Printers

Joe Hogan, Align Technology's plastics-nerd CEO, says you shouldn't eat with your aligners and that you don't need to wear your retainers every night. Joe Hogan sees a lot of smiles. When people ask him where he works, he responds with "Align Technology," which inevitably prompts the follow up, "What's that?" After months, sometimes years, the discrete rival to braces promises to give people smiles they will want to show off. Hogan gets a look at them all. And he's eager to see more. Align is embarking on its biggest manufacturing overhaul since it was founded by two Stanford Graduate School of Business classmates 29 years ago. The company is preparing to begin directly 3D printing the aligners at the core of its business, ditching what Hogan describes as a longer, more wasteful process that involves making molds. A successful transition could lower costs and make treatment more affordable in the long run, bringing Invisalign to more customers and boosting Align's profits. It also, according to Hogan, would entrench Align as the world's biggest user of 3D printers .