The Trumpf machinery allows a piece's size, shape and pattern to be changed to order, making mass customization possible.

WSJ: Tom Dixon Makes Things Better

Berthold Leibinger, the doyen of Trumpf, a classic Mittelstand firm based in Stuttgart, is another critic of restrictions that hamper entrepreneurship.

ECONOMIST: What's ailing German industry

The remarkable thing about this giveaway was that Dixon made all the Stamp pieces on site using radical laser technology, created with German company Trumpf.

WSJ: Tom Dixon Makes Things Better

These substantial Mittelstand companies include such famous names as Miele (white goods), Behr (air conditioners), Stihl (chainsaws) and Trumpf (laser-cutters), which each have a turnover of between euro1 billion and euro2 billion and employ between 5, 000 and 15, 000 people.

ECONOMIST: What's ailing German industry