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3DSS would like to thank our customers for coming and visiting our company’s A-62 booth at 3D Print Fiesta 2017 for 3 days from June 7,8,9. Xem thêm…

I get asked this question all the time: why are your scanners so expensive? After all, it’s just a few cameras, some electronics and a plastic casing. Does this combo really warrant a price tag equal to a Ford Focus? Well, let’s talk about it.
 Reason #1: manufacturers don’t get the full amount you pay for the 3D scanner.

Most manufacturers do not sell directly to customers. Instead, they establish a distribution network across the globe, so that end-users can have local pre-sales and post-sales support in their native language close to home.

THOR3D has dozens of partners around the world who promote, sell and support our products. These partners provide one-on-one demonstrations for each potential buyer, explain the pros and cons of the equipment, translate the software into your language, provide comfortable sales terms with lease and rental options, help end-users when something doesn’t seem to be working and take care of repairs when the need arises.

For their work, the manufacturer generally grants a certain percentage of the end-user price to the distributor. The percentage varies greatly in the industry but generally falls between 20% and 50%.

So you bought the scanner for $15,000? The manufacturer receives on average $9,750.

 Reason #2: hidden costs are built into the price of the scanner.

Aside from the hardware components that make up your 3D scanner, there are lots of expenses that go into making and marketing your device.

Warranty costs. You are buying a piece of technology. We work hard on making it reliable, but things break. It’s just a fact of life. So if every 50th scanner breaks during the warranty period, we have to fix it for free. Of course. It’s our fault. At THOR3D an average repair costs approximately $1,000. This price includes labor, cost of spare parts and shipping both ways. This means that we must build that $20 into the price of every scanner.

R&D. It takes at least 9-12 months to develop a new 3D scanner. Once it is invented, it has to be patented, then a prototype has to be created, then another 5 prototypes have to be created that improve on the original device, then it has to be field-tested, then industrial designers have to create its outer look, and then you have to apply for various certifications such as CE, FCC, etc.

Marketing. How would a customer find you if you didn’t have a website? And would your website be useful without visual content like photos and videos? So, a manufacturer would hire (at least on a part-time basis) a website designer, a photographer, a videographer, a copy writer, someone to create sample 3D scans for the gallery and of course, a marketing manager who will bring all of this content together by creating PowerPoint presentations, working with interpreters to translate the website into several languages, updating the FB and Youtube accounts, as well writing up case studies and news articles for the site.

Sales/Distribution Support. Someone has to find all those distributors and then once there is a mature sales channel and a local representative in all key territories, someone has to represent the manufacturer to each one of the partners. Each one of the dozens of resellers around the world will have questions and suggestions weekly which will need to be addressed. Can your scanner scan snow? Are you licensed in Botswana as a medical device? The scanner got stuck at customs – can you send me a new invoice with my full company name on the document?

Logistics/Administration. To create a prototype of a new 3D scanner, you have to try different components. THOR3D tries to buy everything locally, but a manufacturer shouldn’t limit itself to what is only available in their own country. The logistics department is vital to R&D. We could order our electronics from China, our durable shipping boxes from Norway and our cameras from Canada. All of those things, at one point or another, get stuck at customs or get delayed by earthquakes in the South Pacific and someone has to get on the phone and move the process along. And although admin costs add only a small fraction to the final product price, they too, have to be accounted for (office space, production facilities, taxes, accountants, internet access, coffee/tea for the break room, etc).

Software. Software development is one of the most expensive “hidden” costs. We have programmers, mathematicians, quality control technicians, calibration specialists, and optics engineers on staff. The software might be free, but the development of that software, unfortunately, is very expensive. Each manufacturer is different, and of course, the more scanners they sell, the cheaper “per unit” cost of software development is, but usually, it is one of the most expensive budget items: salaries for software development engineers.

 Reason #3: low volume.

Professional 3D scanners don’t sell by the millions. Most 3D scanner manufacturers, even the most well-known and successful ones, sell by the dozens per month. In 2009, Creaform, a well-respected maker of professional 3D scanners proudly announced that they sold their 1000th unit.

They’ve been selling scanners since 2005! That means that in four years they averaged 21 scanners per month world-wide. With such low volumes, it’s difficult to utilize economies of scale. Anyone familiar with manufacturing will attest that purchasing 10 units of electronics versus 10,000 units of the same thing will see costs quadruple on a “per unit” basis.

Combine all the above-mentioned expenses with low volume and you can probably conclude that your friendly, neighborhood 3D scanner manufacturer is most likely not a billionaire. It is also fair to say that even though the actual hardware components are not that pricy, the cost of developing a well-functioning, well-supported, quality 3D scanner is not as small as one might think.

Anna Zevelyov
3DSS – thor3dscanner.com

I think what’s most outstanding about Divergent’s 3D printed car tech is that it envisions a future that I would want to live in. Xem thêm…

3D Printing Industry are in Stuttgart this week to celebrate the opening of Shining3D’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Office. Founded in mainland China, Shining3D provide 3D printing and 3D scanning services for professional, industrial and consumer use. The opening of this office is a strategic movement towards local headquarters in the Americas, hoped to be introduced by Shining3D in early 2018. Xem thêm…

Taiwanese manufacturer, ComeTrue 3D is set to demo its ComeTrue T10 full colour powder-based 3D printer for the first time in North America at CES 2017 in Las Vegas.

The desktop machine will feature inside the Taiwan Excellence Pavilion, designed to showcase the most innovative consumer products from across the region, on 5-8th January at the Las Vegas Convention Centre (LVCC), South Hall 1.

Launched earlier this year by MicroJet Technology Co. Ltd., the machine uses a patented ComeTrue Binder Jetting (CBJ) technology which leverages custom designed inkjet heads and print engine for a continuous CMYK ink supply using gypsum-based composite powders.

Full-colour relief sculpture.

ComeTrue is targeting a diverse range of markets with the machine including bio-medical modelling and more consumer-orientated applications such as digital art and 3D figurines. However, education is a particularly important sector for the manufacturer, which believes the use of colour 3D printing is a key enabler for creativity in STEM subjects.

Visitors to CES 2017 will be able to see a live demo of machine along with examples of full-colour prints.
For more on 3D Printing at CES 2017, take a look at the full TCT @ CES 2017 3D Printing Conference line-up featuring speakers from GE Additive, Reebok, Intel and many more.

www.tctmagazine.com

While manufacturing companies and parts suppliers are embracing 3D printing and additive manufacturing for a variety of applications, there is perhaps no location more remote and difficult to supply than space.

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At last year’s TCT Asia + Personalize, desktop 3D printing manufacturer Shining3D said their long-term goal is to be one of the best companies in the 3D technologies industry. Xem thêm…