3D printers will be coming to your local Staples — or rather, available on the Staples website. Small businesses and customers will now be able to upload designs for order.
According to a press statement issued by the office supply chain, customers who want to use their 3D printing service must make an account, where they can "customize designs by selecting from a wide array of materials and colors as well as adding text, figures, and images" using their site. After the design has been submitted, Staples will 3D print it and ship it to your chosen address.
The services aren't exactly of Staples' own making — rather, they're outsourced to Sculpteo, a "community platform" whom, according to their website, "offers a fast 3D printing service ... [we] start from your 3D design to manufacture a specific object: interior decoration, figurines, robots, miniatures, scale models ... [and so forth]." The service is offered through their 3D Printing Cloud Engine.
"Staples will become an entry point for both businesses and the general public to benefit of 3D printing, and we are proud that Sculpteo's technology will help to make that possible," stated Clément Moreau, Sculpteo's co-founder and CEO.
Staples, too, is invigorated by the possibilities of their online platform: their vice president of services, Behzad Soltani, also noted the utility it can lend to "business customers that are looking for an easy way to prototype with quick turnaround time, and at an affordable price."
"The platform allows beginners to get a taste and try 3D printing by selecting one of our existing models and making it their own through our customization options," he added.
Photo: Mike Mozart | Flickr
