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The therapist goes to the cupboard to get another bottle of body scrub to do a treatment and finds some- one took the last one. A disaster? Today perhaps, but not for much longer. Soon it will be possible to 3D print more to order on-site. The implications of this for the
Threat and opportunity: suppliers of spa products must be aware that 3D printing will massively disrupt their businesses
spa industry are huge and will change both the economics of spa operations and the relationship between suppliers and operators. 3D printing products on-site will
mean they’re fresher, so less pre- servatives will be needed, shipping costs will be lower and storage and packaging will be reduced. Product companies which gear
up for this hugely disruptive trend will have the advantage of con- trolling the intellectual property rights to their own formulations. But those that sit back and do nothing will find that – as with the drug industry – there will be com- petitors who adapt their formulae and create generic versions. The power of the brand and the
control which suppliers exert over the infrastructure will be key. If a product house creates a 3D print- ing option for clients whereby they have a licence to print a branded product for use in treatments, then they will retain market share, but if this isn’t done, then they could potentially lose their business.