New Zealand-based personal manufacturing service Ponoko has posed a mystery with an obscure post on their blog. The entire text of the post is:

Hello Europe

It may be snowing…. but some bright rays are on their way.

We know that Ponoko has already set up a satellite manufacturing hubs in the USA (San Francisco area), but this is the first we've heard about Ponoko setting up a European manufacturing hub.

Or do we?

Perhaps the summer-soaked New Zealanders are merely having pity on the wintery Europeans in the northern hemisphere.

Via Ponoko

Ponoko's making system gives our ShopBot owners the ability to receive a new stream of work from a wide range of customers. Our partnership also means everyone now has easy access to their own local 3D fabricator. This is the first step to providing a solution for the doers and makers out there who want to join in re-building America, one garage at a time.

Our online making system makes it easier than ever before to turn ideas into real things, and by partnering with ShopBot we bring together more than 20,000 creators and over 6,000 fabricators to use a powerful online service to design, make and deliver goods locally.

It may sound a bit complicated at first but our idea is to be as open and unconstrained as possible, while also making it possible to get stuff done easily. We don't want to force fabricators or designers into a particular framework and will allow each a range of options for participation. We expect that the system and methods here will continuously evolve as we learn about what works best. There will be opportunities for feedback and interaction in the forums and we encourage everyone to participate.

Apparently in Q4 of 2009, they'll release the new function, while they are searching for beta testers today. According to their blog announcement:

You could call it Digitalmake – an online Ponoko account designed especially for owners of digital making technology (eg, laser cutters, CNCs, 3D printers).

Digitalmake springs from our desire to create a digital making network that enables products to be made as close to the point of consumption as possible.

With Digitalmake you can manage and download product designs and materials for digital making. You can also offer your fabricator to Ponoko users (and get pre-paid jobs).

They've also got a survey up that asks the basic questions such as:

• If you own a fabricator to make money from it, what are the most important things this online account NEEDS to provide to you?
• If you own a fabricator for personal use, what are the most important things this online account NEEDS to provide to you?

and most importantly,

• Would you like to be a beta tester?

We agree with Ponoko that this will be an incredibly big development. It may be in response to their recent capacity issues, but evidently has been in development for two years. Perhaps they anticipated the growth demand and determined it would be best to spread the work out as much as possible?

Their vision is truly important. Imagine a future scenario where Ponoko acts as a centralized repository of models, both commercial and free. Across the world, anyone who owns a 3D printer (or CNC machine, Laser Cutter, etc.) simply creates a Ponoko account and has immediate access to that repository, presumably with easy to use interfaces. While the high-end 3D printers usually have a crew of designers directly associated with them developing models (think architecture professionals or a manufacturing plant), the low-end devices might not.

Until Q4. At that time, every device will have quick access to a massive repository of high-quality models. Should the MakerBot guys include a Ponoko coupon in their printer kits? We suspect there will be a large uptick in Ponoko business in 2010.

Good luck, Ponoko!

Via Ponoko Blog

Ponoko, the innovative self-manufacturing service recently opened a new hub in San Francisco to more rapidly serve their North American clients. Previously, Ponoko had only one manufacturing hub at their secret New Zealand base.

Now we find that demand for service at the USA hub has apparently outstripped Ponoko's capacity:

With our new USA hub getting slammed with digital making requests within just 2 weeks of its launch, we’ve carefully cultivated a serious case of sleep deprivation.

To help us avoid this into the future, we thought some Bay Area locals might like to come and lend a hand from time to time.

Whether it’s for the love or for the money, no sweat.

If this sounds a little bit like you, we’re ‘taking names’ for random call ups every now and again. And who knows, something even more profound might develop?!

To add your name to the call up list, email us: service-at-ponoko.com

The economy might be bad, but it's clearly not bad everywhere. Hmm, do we hear the sound of the 21st century industry emerging?

Via Ponoko Blog

We always get a little excited when fabbing hits mainstream news because it means we're getting a teensy bit closer to a world of digital fabrication. One example of this comes from 3News New Zealand, who've recently done a short piece on Ponoko, their local (and global to the rest of the world) 21st century personal manufacturing service. The highlights:

• Derek Elley, Ponoko Co-Founder speaks of the power of digital manufacturing: Make, then sell
• Some 70% of Ponoko's orders come from North America. As a result, they've recently opened an office in San Francisco
• The San Francisco office proves they can "export physical products digitally without shipping costs"
• Views behind the scenes at Ponoko, where objects are created
• Their laser cutter now runs 16-17 hours per day, six days a week

Ponoko has a very interesting business model. We like think of it as a kind of distributed slow-speed replicator.

Via 3News