We’re checking out 3Diligent, a service that helps connect industry to professional 3D part printing services.
3Diligent solves a problem all too frequently encountered by industry today: where should you get a 3D printed part from? In many cases, small and even large businesses do not have their own 3D printing gear and opt to use services instead.
However, there are a lot of 3D printing services for the industrial market. How does one choose correctly? It’s not as simple as you’d think, because the services may cost print services in different ways, leading to different pricing depending on what you’re printing and the type of materials required.
To do this properly, you’d have to carefully review each potential print service and deeply understand their capabilities and pricing structures. You’d also have to ensure the print service vendors were reliable and available.
That verification takes a lot of time – and you’d have to do it continuously, as vendors can change at any time. More vendors appear, and others disappear. It’s simply more work than a small manufacturing company can perform. Thus in many cases, companies simply pick a part service they have some familiarity with, and they may be leaving money or quality on the table.
That’s where 3Diligent comes in. They do this work for you by maintaining a database of “vetted” part print service vendors. You need only submit your material for a quote and 3Diligent sources the job to their network of qualified services. The vendors bid for the job and you select the winner. 3Diligent takes a slice of the transaction for their troubles.
Why not just do this yourself? 3Diligent explains:
3Diligent’s competitive marketplace for custom manufactured parts ensures the prices customers pay are fair and market-driven. Prices are sometimes “better than fair,” as 3Diligent’s real-time bidding engine and “veiled identity” bidding system allow vendors to sometimes offer below market prices when they have excess or idle capacity. Regardless of your industry, you can generate significant savings without sacrificing anything in the way of quality.
If you’re using the same old parts printing service, you might want to consider giving 3Diligent a try. You may find yourself a pile of savings.
Via 3Diligent
