If you’ve ever peeked behind the scenes of a 3D printing lab, you might have caught a glimpse of the post-processing room; maybe it’s messy, maybe hidden behind a mysterious door.According to Jeff Mize, CEO of PostProcess Technologies, that hidden step is one of the biggest bottlenecks in additive manufacturing (AM).And the PostProcess team has made it their mission to automate and clean it up.
“Design, print, and post-print,” Mize says.“Those are the three big steps of AM.The first two get all the love—and all the money.
Post-printing? That’s the dirty little secret of the industry.” But PostProcess is changing that narrative.The Buffalo-based company offers a full-stack solution that includes software, hardware, and chemistry, designed specifically for AM, automating support removal and surface finishing for both polymers and metals.Most of its customers today are using the platform for polymers, especially in prototyping workflows, but production use is growing fast in verticals like dental, aerospace, and automotive.
It’s not just about convenience, it’s about scaling.As Mize puts it, “You can’t scale additive if the last step is still done with a toothbrush and a tub of isopropyl alcohol (IPA).” PostProcess CEO Jeff Mize.Mize, who joined PostProcess as its fourth employee, has a background in taking analog industries and digitizing them.
He did it in the transportation industry with NAVTEQ, and in agriculture with The Climate Corporation.“This is the same playbook.You take a manual process—in this case, post-printing—and digitize it.
Make it safer, faster, and scalable.” And safety is a major theme says Mize: “Some of the chemicals used in post-processing, like IPA, are nasty.We’re focused on eliminating those.When I visit labs, I see makeshift setups with strong fumes, inadequate ventilation, and inconsistent results.
That’s just not sustainable.” PostProcess offers IPA-free workflows, and many of their customers (including Formula One teams and top aerospace manufacturers) are leaning in hard on sustainability and safety.Although Mize couldn’t name names due to NDAs in place, he hinted at big logos and multi-site installations.The way Mize describes it, PostProcess is not just cleaning up the workflow; it’s solving a core industrial problem that is preventing AM from scaling into production: “Manual labor is our main competitor.
Not another machine.Not another company.Just the old way of doing things.” Dental labs, especially in Europe, are a standout market.
The new DEMI X 200 Plus is a compact, all-in-one machine that cleans, rinses, dries, and cures, and is designed for small dental labs that don’t have time or space for complicated workflows.The machine is plug-and-play, allowing users to simply load the part, walk away, and return to a finished product.And it’s no small market.
Germany alone has thousands of independent dental labs, and the U.S.has even more.“The dental space is in production.
It’s not like prototyping, you’re talking about real daily output.And they’re losing experienced technicians so automation helps fill that gap.” Engineer using the DEMI post process machine.At the higher end, PostProcess is also powering resin removal for large-format systems, such as the Stratasys Neo800+.
Turnaround time matters, especially in industries like Formula One, where race-to-race cycles are short, says Mize.“Seven to ten minutes.That’s what we aim for in resin removal applications.
Consistency, safety, ROI, those are the reasons our customers standardize on our systems,” Mize notes.“And that ROI? We’ve seen customers make back their investment in as little as six weeks.Typically, it’s around 20 to 40 weeks.
But once they run the numbers, it’s not a hard sell.” The company is also investing heavily in software and AI.One engineer reportedly cut his bill-of-materials (BOM) review time by 90% just by using ChatGPT.He used to spend eight hours on a BOM.
Now it takes less than an hour, which frees up hundreds of hours per year for more meaningful work, Mize explains.Productivity gains aren’t limited to the office.With software that can track energy use, motor strain, and cycle performance, PostProcess is moving toward predictive maintenance and even smarter recipes.
Eventually, Mize says, the system will optimize itself.“We’re not just making the parts cleaner.We’re making the process smarter, and the ultimate goal is lights-out automation.
We’re working with robotics companies to physically link our machines with printers,” Mize says.“You’ll have a robot pull the build plate from the printer, place it into the post-processing solution, and move it down the line, all without a human.That’s what end-to-end really looks like.” All of PostProcess Technologies’ machines.
While the company currently focuses on four core systems, it is actively working on gross depowdering for powder bed processes and expects a broader rollout in 2026.“We have decided to double down on what’s working now—FDM, PolyJet, resins, waxes—but powder is next.We’ve got test units out in the field to collect customer input and optimize the production design.” PostProcess isn’t new to this game either.
They’re about to hit a major milestone: 900 solutions sold, and their customer retention rate is 98.6%.Mize suggests that these numbers indicate the company is not just selling hardware, but rather “solving problems,” and that when customers scale, they tend to remain loyal to PostProcess.So, why don’t more companies talk about post-processing? Mize points out that “It’s corporate culture, it’s sticking with the status quo, it’s that people don’t want to show the mess behind the scenes.
But we’re trying to change that.You can’t scale additive without fixing the last step.And that last step is us.” It helps that PostProcess has built strong relationships with printer OEMs, including Farsoon and Stratasys, which have partnered to qualify their systems with a post-process unit.
This means customers can rely on a tested workflow, from print to post-print, without any surprises.The DEMI 4100.As AM continues to expand into critical sectors, post-processing is no longer optional.
It’s what Mize describes as “core infrastructure” to the 3D printing industry.“We’ve come a long way,” he concludes.“But there’s still this perception that post-processing is an afterthought.
We’re here to prove it’s actually the key to unlocking additive at scale.” For now, Mize and his team are focused on achieving profitability for the company by the end of 2025.Further expansion into Asia is likely next, with India and South Korea on the radar.But the company’s vision is clear: “We’re building the backbone for production additive.
And we’re now seeing momentum growing for these applications in other key markets beyond dental.” Images courtesy of PostProcess Technologies.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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