“Our aim as a company, is to assist clients become more agile and improve their day-to-day operations through convenient and cost-effective 3D printing technology,” says David Sciberras, who for the past years has been pushing 3D print technology to the limits of the imagination in order to create unlimited solutions in a number of fields.
“3D printing technology really offers endless possibilities and can solve a multitude of challenges at a fraction of the cost of more traditional production methods. In fact, our track record has already proven that we can be valuable partners to operators in fields such as manufacturing, pharma, biomed, and several others,” he continues.
Creating an object, from seemingly thin air, is not a recent innovation, but it has come a considerable way in the past decade or so. In fact, 3D printing could have very well remained a novelty innovation if it stuck to printing stress balls and small gadgets. However, innovation leaders such as David, who has an academic background in Engineering, have helped to push the technology beyond, now holding an important role in many economic sectors.
“We like to think of ourselves as professional problem solvers, as we have helped to create the most random objects, from prosthetic limbs for pets, to parts for sophisticated equipment, to novelty items such as trophies. We love it when a client comes to us with a problem that to them would appear unsurmountable, or too expensive to address, and we sit down together and discuss the options to solve it,” David explains.
Given his engineering background, dealing with technical people and explaining the vast advantages of using 3D technology is easy for David.. As the company grows however, and with ambitions of internationalisation looming on the horizon, the founder needed to somewhat shift his narrative in order to capture the imagination of a new cohort.
“We have now shifted up a gear, as we are collaborating with bigger, more important organisations, who come to us with even more challenging requests. In terms of business development, I find myself communicating more often with the less technical, but more visionary CEOs of companies. Famously, CEOs are people who have very clear visions for their organisations, but they would not necessarily have all the details worked out to a technical tee. That is where we come in, providing a workable solution that exceeds expectations,” David explains.
Easy jobs are unlikely to excite David and his team, who are motivated by solving conundrums that someone else might have struggled with. “If there’s no innovation, it doesn’t interest us. For us, it would have been easy to continue reproducing our best sellers, but that wouldn’t have thought us much, and we wouldn’t have grown either. Personally, being in this business is all about growth and taking on new challenges,” David continues.
2023 has been an excellent year for Invent 3D which has seen the best order books to date and is looking at growing its staff compliment to be able to continue sustaining the upward trajectory.
“We are looking at identifying more members to join our young team, as we aim to go from eight to 10 staff. Add to that, we want to grow our print-farm as well, taking it up to 200 machines, making it an unequalled resource on the island which will be capable of solving any 3D printing challenge possible.”
Asked about what qualities make a successful business leader, David lists resilience in the face of adversity, compassion on a human level especially when dealing with clients and team members, passion for the job itself – which David evidently has in great volumes, and most importantly, humility.
As a successful business leader, the CEO has some pertinent advice that he identifies as the secrets to his success. “Always listen to your employees, they might be seeing things that you aren’t. You are paying them to advise you – don’t reduce them to mere yes-persons. Having said that, listen to your gut too – more often than not, it is right, since it is an accumulation of years of experiential knowledge.”
On a personal and physical level, David also makes it a point to go to the gym at least three time in a week, as his personal appearance attests. “The gym clears my mind and helps me focus when I’m back at work. The small investment goes a long way.”
Ultimately it is all about firing up meaningful conversations for David, which result in fruitful collaborations. “Start by understanding your client well, go into the detail and take the time to really appreciate what motivates them, what makes them tick and essentially how important the challenge they are facing is for them. The rest will follow,” David concludes.
This interview forms part of the 50 Business Leaders project. The new online serialisation on MaltaCEOs.mt will feature 50 distinguished business leaders, CEOs, and emerging business minds to create debate and encourage business leaders to share their journey with our readers.
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