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Vertex Group began by using FDM for 3D printing mannequins and props.<\/p><\/div>\n
That company is Vertex Group, and the platform it led to the creation of is L3AD<\/a>: a digital factory service launched in 2025 that gives industrial users access to a network of over 800 printers across China and Europe, without a single capital investment in machinery. But to understand L3AD, you have to go back to 2020, when Vertex set a new manufacturing standard through the mass production of mannequins and props using 3D printing.<\/p>\n Traditionally, mannequin production relied on high-volume runs of standardized models. But brands were shifting. Collections were becoming more frequent, and customization expectations were rising. Sustainability was also in higher demand. This created three problems that the industry’s existing manufacturing model could not solve:<\/p>\n In 2020, Vertex owner Christoph Grebe and Director Thomas Wadle, along with General Manager Francesco Spinoglio, began exploring new solutions. Although it was still regarded as non-scalable for industrial production, they turned to 3D printing.<\/a><\/p>\n Vertex uses 3D printing to create small batches of specialized mannequins.<\/p><\/div>\n Vertex chose FDM as its primary process because it enabled large-format production, reduced material waste, and eliminated varnishing from the workflow.<\/p>\n \u201cThis transition was far from easy,\u201d <\/i>Spinoglio said. \u201cWe were coming from a completely different manufacturing background, so we had to build a dedicated 3D printing department from scratch\u2014machines, materials, processes, and quality standards. It took months of trial and error, long nights, and continuous iteration before we reached a level suitable for reliable batch production.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n The material challenge proved to be the most critical obstacle. At the time, most AM work in the mannequin sector used PLA<\/a>, but for prototyping. There had been attempts at using PLA for\u00a0 serial mannequin production, but these did not succeed, due to PLA being brittle and lacking the long-term durability required for display fixtures. So, with no off-the-shelf material solution available, Vertex created their own.<\/p>\n The Vertex team spent more than a year developing a proprietary polypropylene<\/a> (PP) formulation. This involved a ground-up material development program, calibrating it for large-format FDM, and validating it for serial production. Ultimately, the custom PP formulation delivers:<\/p>\n That last point proved commercially significant. As more brands began prioritizing recycled and recyclable materials in their supply chains, PP’s advantages over ABS<\/a> (particularly the absence of styrene and its established recyclability) put Vertex ahead of the curve.<\/p>\n L3AD’s proprietary PP formulation is made from made from PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) content.<\/p><\/div>\n With a validated material and a working process, Vertex began scaling. The scrap rate, which had reached approximately 45% during early production runs, was reduced to below 10% through iterative process refinement and tighter quality control. The single-material, single-finish offering expanded to include multiple materials and surface options, including matte and satin finishes. Production capacity increased more than 10x. The printer network grew from a handful of machines to hundreds.<\/strong><\/p>\n Vertex also developed proprietary TPU formulations alongside PP, brought filament production in-house, optimized printing systems at the hardware level where needed, and structured production workflows. This resulted in an industrialized AM process that could run repeatable batch production, at volume, with predictable output quality.<\/p>\n Patrick Tristscher, Retail & In-Store Manager at Atomic, explained how efficient it was to work with Vertex. \u201cThe design of the figures and their desired poses were understood very quickly, and the initial mockups and tests were already very, very close to the desired result,\u201d<\/i> Tristcher said. \u201cThe final result meets our expectations 100%, and the installations at our selected key accounts set a new benchmark for ski action mannequins in the sports retail space.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n In addition to mannequins, Vertex began creating props and display forms for Visual Merchandising, employing SLS<\/a> and SLA<\/a>.<\/p>\n By 2025, Vertex had a network of proprietary materials, hundreds of printers, and structured production workflows and quality control. That raised an obvious question. “If we built all these capabilities for mannequins,” <\/i>Spinoglio, Grebe, and Wadle, asked themselves, “why not extend them to other industries?” <\/i>Thus, L3AD was born, with Spinoglio serving as General Manager.<\/p>\n \u201cL3AD is the natural evolution of everything we developed at Vertex,\u201d <\/i>Spinoglio said. \u201cOur mission is to transform 3D printing from a prototyping tool into a scalable, industrial <\/i>manufacturing solution, accessible to multiple industries.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n The platform combines FDM, SLA, and SLS capabilities with the proprietary materials and process knowledge built over a decade in production. Clients access it through a centralized digital interface: uploading files to the cloud, configuring materials and parameters, tracking production in real time, and managing logistics and warehouse storage. Users can also take advantage of L3AD\u2019s design support to reduce weight, improve strength, lower cost, optimize printability, or just improve aesthetics.<\/p>\n L3AD has hundreds of 3D printers across Europe and China.<\/p><\/div>\n An AI-powered instant quotation system handles pricing, reducing the friction between a design file and a production order. The network’s location in China provides direct access to materials, components, machinery, and manufacturing talent that gives L3AD cost and flexibility advantages that a Europe-only operation could not match.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes L3AD unique is its vertical integration,\u201d <\/i>Spinoglio added. \u201cWe control the entire value chain, from raw material to final product, allowing us to deliver consistency, speed and cost efficiency at scale.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n The mannequin origin story is the proof of concept embedded in L3AD’s value proposition. L3AD aims to make additive manufacturing behave like a real factory: structured, scalable, and production-ready,\u201d <\/i>Spinoglio concluded. \u201cUltimately, that\u2019s the shift that the industry is already undergoing lately, where execution and application-driven solutions are increasingly requested.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n To explore exactly what L3AD can offer, visit its website HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n What do you think of L3AD’s digital factory model? Let us know in a comment below or on our\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0pages! Plus, don\u2019t forget to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0Newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to get the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox. You can also find all our videos on our\u00a0YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/p>\n *All Photo Credits: L3AD \/ Vertex<\/em><\/p>\nA Mannequin Industry at a Crossroads<\/h2>\n
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Adopting AM for Scaled Production<\/h2>\n
The PP Breakthrough<\/h2>\n
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From a Few Machines to Industrial Infrastructure<\/h2>\n
The Question That Created L3AD<\/h2>\n
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