which integrate with printers’ core business in a multichannel marketing environment, if there is a way to integrate 3D products with commercial print, that opportunity is still waiting to be found.) This is not to say there is no buyer overlap at all. There is some, such as when services are needed by small business owners. However, these customers often need design services, which most printers are not ready to offer. This creates a challenge for commercial printers wanting to target this audience with an output-only solution: kind of like trying to sell customers an automobile with wheels but no chassis. So why is 3D printing growing among retail giants like The UPS Store and Staples? Even if they don’t do a lot of customer work, there is not much downside. It costs relatively little to get started, especially if they are only outputting files, and it boosts brand identity. For retailers like Staples (which has a relationship with Makerbot) that sell the 3D printers on their retail shelves, it increases visibility and sales. Make widgets through the output service, get traction with the product, and buy a 3D printer to make your own from there on out. Staples has a ready-made market for this business model—small businesses and prosumers. “Say I have a widget 2.0 that is going to revolutionize my industry,” said Hubbard White, former 3D specialist for Form Labs and now working at Staples Bel Air, MD. “Now I have a board meeting and have to make six iterations of this widget for five different board members. What am I going to do? Am I going to pay an intern to spend a week making them? Pay a company thousands of dollars to injection mold them? Or pay $3,000 to buy a 3D printer to create them myself?” Isn’t this a perfect opportunity for commercial printers to step in for those who just want to output prototypes and not run purchase and run their own equipment, even if they can afford it? Only if they can offer design services too. Aye, there’s the rub. Digicopy, a commercial print shop based in Italy, uses paper based 3D printers from Mcor Technologies. It solves the issue of of not offering design by using 3D scanners and printing mainly 3D print models developed by university students for their thesis work. In one month alone, Digicopy printed models for one thousand students, as well as prototypes for designers and stylists, including some famous fashion firms. But printers need to be wary of building a business model around any market that has a high need for output-only services, including education, since these are the prime markets for bringing 3D printing in-house. Already, secondary schools are adding 3D printers into their Tech Ed programs and, increasingly, colleges and universities are as well. For more information, visit PrintingNews.com/10006517 PrintingNews.com Printing News | October 2015 11
Printing News October 2015
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