www.3ders.org

Nov 18, 2015 | By Benedict

2D printing and copying shops (remember those?) have populated our high streets for decades, generally running on a simple price-per-page business model. Customers have long been able to print or copy a document for a few cents per page, with no strenuous calculation required. Since the advent of 3D printing, many companies have taken the copy shop model into the third dimension by allowing customers to submit their own 3D models for in-store printing or delivery. These 3D printing bureaus make money in much the same way as copy shops: invest in some expensive machinery; stick a healthy markup on each print. However, 3D printing businesses face a pricing problem that traditional copy shops never had to consider. Since 3D prints can come in a range of shapes and sizes, they cannot be priced by “page”, or even by “layer”. Whereas paper printing variables can be narrowed down to color/B&W and high/low quality, 3D prints feature a huge number of parameters.

The large number of parameters which affect the cost of a 3D print means that businesses are often required to manually assess a customer’s 3D model before giving a quote. This slow process can be off-putting to customers, and inevitably puts brakes on the transaction process. Seeing this problem, Printelize has developed an online sales platform for automatic quoting and sales handling, cutting out the waiting time involved in manual price quoting.

The company’s Printelize Professional subscription service is an online sales automation software package which allows 3D printing businesses to manage customer relationships, create quotes based on uploaded files and process orders and financial transactions. Users are able to upload their model through the service, configure their print, receive an immediate calculated quote and then place their order. The service can be run under a company’s own domain name, with Printelize offering its product as a white-label solution.

The software is able to calculate accurate quotes based on a 3D printing bureau’s initial account settings. Its Excel-like syntax permits dynamic pricing formulas, for calculating the appropriate price of 3D prints in all shapes and sizes. The system can also be used for analysing 3D models and submitting manual quotes. Printelize has designed the system to be suitable for a range of business sizes, with the creation of individual salesperson accounts made simple. Prices for the full service start at €150/m, with a free trial version also available.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printing Service

 

 

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