A look inside Solidoodle’s 3D printing factory #makerbusinessmonday #makerbusiness
Here’s a chance to see the inside of the Solidoodle factory and learn about their plans to take their business global. From TechHive:
This is the sort of manufacturing future that Sam Cervantes imagines for the entire world. But before you’re inner luddite starts shouting “down with the machine,” these devices aren’t necessarily replacing humans: The rest of the space is filled with workers that assemble these Solidoodle 3D printers.
Aside from a machined frame and a couple of 3D-printed parts, practically every piece of the printer is put together by human hands—from the extruding head to the controller board on the back. All these machines are made to order by hand right here in Brooklyn—that’s’ something you can’t say about a lot of factories located anywhere in America.
Raffaele Stuparitz, the shop’s Consumer Manager and self-proclaimed “renaissance man,” told me that the store started up in September 2011 with just four workers. Since then, the factory has grown to a workforce of 60 employees with over 4000 printers shipped out.
On Thursday, Solidoodle held a press conference to announce its ambitious plans to spread globally. The company announced that its first international 3D printing factory will open this summer in Moscow. Meanwhile, a partnership with the Brazilian company Linotech 3D will mark Solidoodle’s first official distributor outside of the US. There are also plans to expand to other markets including Canada, South Korea, Japan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.
On the domestic front, Solidoodle has partnered with Ensemble to launch a Manhattan-based 3D Pavilion located in Bryant Park. The space, located at 1150 6thAvenue, 6th floor, will be used as a co-working space to help entrepreneurs start their businesses….
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