In what could be a very powerful partnership, 3D model analysis firm 3YOURMIND is working with EOS to identify printable parts.
Berlin-based 3YOURMIND began as a meta-service identifying promising 3D print quotes for given 3D models, but has been rapidly developing new ways to deploy their 3D model analysis technology.
Most recently they announced a partnership with a distribution firm to develop a way for remote 3D printing to take place.
But now they’ve hit on something that looks very juicy: parts inventory analysis.
They’ve partnered with EOS and the result should be quite profitable for not only EOS and 3YOURMIND, but also their clients.
The problem being solved is this: Many companies hold vast inventories of metal 3D part designs. To serve their clients, manufacturers must maintain large inventories of these parts as it is financially infeasible to build them on demand due to the mass manufacturing process typically used.
If only a company could transform that expensive physical inventory into a “digital inventory” where they could simply make the parts when requested.
This is theoretically possible for some kinds of parts today, as the cost to 3D print them may be high, but offset by the reduction in physical inventory expenses.
But to do so a company would have to trudge through their inventory of 3D models for each and every part and attempt to determine if:
- The part is actually 3D printable
- And if so, whether it would be economically feasible to do so
That investigation would be enormous for some companies, as they hold thousands or even millions of part designs. It cannot be done manually. So I expect many companies don’t even bother trying, as the cost of investigation could exceed any savings had later.
Enter 3YOURMIND’s new AM Part Identifier service (or AMPI as they call it.) AMPI is fed an entire digital inventory – the company’s 3D models for all parts – and analyzes them in batch mode.
The output from AMPI is a report detailing which parts could most feasibly – and economically – be 3D printed instead of held in physical inventory. There are a lot of variables here, but this information is surely calculable.
For EOS, AMPI is a way to approach companies and definitely convince them that 3D printing their metal parts can indeed be financially advantageous.
The result here is that clients will reduce their inventory costs, perhaps significantly. EOS will sell a great deal more machines and 3YOURMIND will profit all along the way.
They’ll profit even more when EOS’s competitors approach them to use the AMPI service for their clients.
Unless EOS has an exclusive with 3YOURMIND…
Via 3YOURMIND
