Silicone 3D Printing Is Finally Ready for Mass Production, Spectroplast Says

A long wait for printable silicone

Silicone is everywhere in products that touch the body or need to flex: seals, gaskets, wearable medical devices, ear tips, cushions. Until recently, 3D printing it meant compromise. Most printed silicone was really TPU or cast parts dressed up in marketing. Real, cross linked silicone with the material properties engineers expect stayed stuck in injection molding.

Spectroplast, a Swiss company spun out of ETH Zurich, has spent years building a vat polymerization process that prints actual silicone. In a fresh interview, the company's leadership says that work has crossed a line. Silicone 3D printing is on the verge of series production, not just one off prototypes.

A new CEO with an industrial mandate

The company recently named Maximilian Eils as CEO. His brief is clear: take silicone additive manufacturing from the lab to the factory floor. Eils points to three priorities: a wider material portfolio, deeper co-development with customers, and production processes reliable enough to deliver value from concept to market.

"What excites me most is translating that technical excellence into solutions with real world impact," Eils said in the announcement. That is the language of a company trying to sell parts, not just printers.

Why this matters

Silicone is hard to beat for biocompatibility and durability, but traditional molding needs a tool, and a tool costs time and money. For low volumes, custom geometries, or parts that have to match a patient's anatomy, molding is awkward. Printing removes the tool and opens the door to shapes molded silicone simply cannot make.

The investors backing Spectroplast, HZG Group and AM Ventures, frame the bet as an ecosystem play. Silicone printing only pays off when materials, process engineering, and industrial deployment line up. Get there, and a class of soft, flexible parts becomes printable on demand.

Where it shows up first

Medical and wearable applications are the obvious early home. Custom ear molds, cushioning, seals for devices, and patient specific parts all fit silicone's strengths. As the process scales, expect more industrial seals and consumer products where a soft touch or a complex internal geometry matters.

Spectroplast is not alone in chasing soft material printing, but its claim that series production is near is the signal worth watching. If it holds, silicone stops being the material you can print only in a demo video and becomes one you can order by the hundred.