Marketiger is an Eindhoven-based 3D print service that’s taking an unusual path to generate business.
There are plenty of 3D print services available worldwide, but few offer full color 3D print services. One of them is Marketiger, and they’ve developed an interesting strategy for their service.
The company offers not only print services, but also can provide post processing, quality control, design & modeling and development. Behind the scenes they’re using the well-regarded Mimaki full color 3D printing systems, which produce incredibly colorful objects.
The job of any print service is to ensure the equipment is running as much as possible to recoup the acquisition investment. Some full color services have attempted to generate business by, for example, partnering with media companies to offer branded products. But Marketiger is doing something different.
The key is in their “development” service. This service allows Marketiger to create a custom “generator” for clients. One example they recently published was for “Dice Conjurer”. This is a service that allows you to create highly complex dice 3D models and receive a custom full color 3D print.
Marketiger helped create the online interface for this service by developing a “dice generator” that would accept several input factors, including:
- Shape
- Color
- Texture
- Quantity
- Number format
These custom dice would be highly desirable for gaming, and that’s no doubt the target market for Dice Conjurer.
But let’s think about this from the point of view of Dice Conjurer for a moment.
Someone had the idea to create a custom dice generator, but almost certainly did not have the skills to both create the generator software nor print the resulting 3D model. These can both be obtained from Marketiger.
Once the site is set up it basically runs on its own and acts as an automatic vending machine. Dice Conjurer customers simply play with the interface and push “buy”. Requests are sent behind the scenes to Marketiger, which runs off the job and ships the prints to the customer. Marketiger takes an unknown cut of the proceeds during the transaction.
There’s basically nothing for the Dice Conjurer operator to do, aside from checking the bank balance at the end of the month.
Now, imagine having another idea for a custom full color product. One could easily build that one too, and eventually one could have a large portfolio of generators for all manner of custom products.
This is what Marketiger is trying to create: a series of websites that all funnel transactions towards their service.
If this concept catches on, we could see many of these custom sites pop up in coming months.
I’m pretty sure Marketiger’s Mimaki equipment will be busy.
Via Marketiger and Dice Conjurer
