Businessmodel of Stratasys

Customer Segments

Stratasys serves a range of corporate and institutional customers across the world. Its products and services are utilised principally by operators across nine industries:

• aerospace and defence, for which it produces wind tunnel models and production parts;
• architecture, for which it creates aesthetic and durable models;
• automotive, for which it provides reliable parts and precision prototyping services;
• commercial products, for which it produces highly-detailed prototypes, molds and production parts;
• consumer products, for which it realises parts and designs for sporting goods, consumer electronics and toys;
• digital dentistry, for which it produces artificial crowns, bridges, stone models and orthodontic appliances;
• education, for which it produces custom research tools and hands-on learning products;
• entertainment; and
• medical, for which it creates surgical guides, prototypes and custom devices. Stratasys’s customers are dispersed geographically. In 2015 59% of Stratasys’s sales were made in North America, which remains the Company’s principal market. The Company’s other principal markets include Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Value Propositions

Stratasys provides value to its customers in three key ways: the quality of its products and services, the status and standing of its brand and its commitment to innovation. Stratasys is a market leader in its field. The quality of its products and its standing within the industry is reflected by its large customer base, including a number of high-profile companies, and its partnerships with leading companies such as Adobe. These strategic alliances also help to ensure that the Company’s keeps pace with the fast-moving technology sector, always providing up-to-date and innovative solutions to its customers.

Channels

Stratasys employs a hybrid sales model, providing both direct sales and indirect sales through a network of more than 200 channel partners, comprising resellers and distributors. The Company’s products are distributed across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America.

Stratasys’s sales and services are effected principally through the following channels:

• sales to resellers, who purchase and resell Stratasys products and provide support services for the Company’s printing systems;
• sales of systems that are marketed by independent sales agents, who operate on commission and directly handle the sale of consumables and provision of support services; and
• sales of systems, related products and services, as well as the Company’s direct manufacturing solutions service, that are made through direct contact with customers. There is overlap within these channels, with some independent sales agents for high-end systems also operating as distributors of our other products. Through its consumer three-dimensional printing brand MakerBot, the Company also operates an online sales channel.

Customer Relationships

The majority of Stratasys’s products and services require a degree of personal interaction with members of the Company’s sales team or with authorised distributors. This is necessary in order for the Company to provide a service that caters to the individual needs of each customer. The Company’s consumer-focused three-dimensional printing products are available to customers on a self-service basis through the MakerBot online store.

Stratasys continues to provide a personalised service after sale, with customers able to contact customer support representatives by phone, email or online contact form. The Company also makes a range of resources available on its website, including user guides and manuals.

Additionally, customers are able to contact the Stratasys team directly through its social media accounts with Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Key Activities

Stratasys is a provider of three-dimensional printing and additive manufacturing solutions for the creation of parts used in the design and manufacturing process of products across a range of industries.

The Company’s solutions include products ranging from consumer-targeted desktop three-dimensional printers to systems for that can provide rapid prototyping and production solutions for direct digital manufacturing.

Stratasys also provides printing consumable materials, including polyjet, inkjet and fused deposition modeling cartridge-based materials in more than 1,500 colours, as well as non-toxic thermoplastic modeling materials.

Key Partners

Stratasys operates a Partner First Program through which it manages its various partnerships with technology partners, hardware and software integrators and industry specialists, which assist the Company in providing effective and exhaustive end-to-end solutions to its customers.

The Company’s partners are divided into two categories: value-added resellers and alliance partners.

• Value-added resellers comprise distributors, technology companies and three-dimensional printing specialists. In addition to generating sales of Stratasys products and services, these partners also act as advisors to the Company and its customers. Among the Company’s value-added reseller partners are TriMech, MCAD and CAPINC.
• Alliance partners comprise industry-leading technology, software and specialist three-dimensional printing companies that assist Stratasys in creating innovative solutions for its customers. This includes the development of integrated software and hardware systems. The Company’s alliance partners include Adobe, Solidworks, PTC and Dassault Systèmes. ### Key Resources

Stratasys’s key resources are its technology and product designs, its channel and alliance partners and its personnel – notably its research and development staff.

The Company’s patents and intellectual property are particularly important. Stratasys has numerous patent applications filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office, including applications entitled ‘Liquefier assembly for use in additive manufacturing system’, ‘Layer transfusion with part heating for additive manufacturing’ and ‘Seam concealment for three-dimensional models’.

Cost Structure

Stratasys incurs costs in relation to the research and development of its products, the production and delivery of its products and services, the sale of its products and services and the retention of its personnel.

Revenue Streams

Stratasys generates revenue through the sale of products – including additive manufacturing systems and related consumable materials – the provision of related services, and the provision of a direct manufacturing service. The majority of the Company’s revenue is derived from the sale of additive manufacturing systems and related consumables.

In 2015 Stratasys generated $696 million in annual revenue, $503.9 million of which was generated through the sale of products and consumables and $192 million of which was generated by the provision of services. Revenues derived from products decreased by $108.2 million in 2015, or 17.7%, as compared to 2014. Consumables revenues, however, increased in 2015 by 5.1% as compared to 2014. Services also increased by $54.1 million in 2015, or 39.2%, as compared to 2014.