A 3D printing vending machine has made its debut in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Well, it’s not exactly a 3D printing vending machine, but it’s the closest thing to one that exists (in the real world). It’s the Factory-In-A-Store from PieceMaker Technologies and they’ve installed their first two pilot machines to see if the in-store 3D printing experience will take off.
In case you missed it, the Factory-In-A-Store is sort of a RepRap strapped to a touchscreen that allows customers to customize 3D printed objects and print them in public locations. I spoke with PieceMaker’s CEO, Arden Rosenblatt, who told me about the Factory-In-A-Store pilot program. So far, they’ve installed two of their machines in two branches of S.W. Randall Toys & Giftes, a Pittsburgh toy store, to determine the success of their business model. Customers wandering into either the Squirrel Hill or Downtown shop can select a number of objects using the touchscreen on the Factory-In-A-Store and have them printed in a variety of colours for a cheap price. The company is currently offering 6 to 8 different filament colours, which are switched out of the printer using a semi-automatic system. A trained employee of the store clicks a button, takes out a roll of filament and replaces it with the colour desired by the customer. PieceMaker obviously hopes to make this process entirely automatic soon.
So far, Arden says that the Factory-In-A-Store has been a big hit as customers are “blown away by the new [3D printing] experience.” Their “first sale was a red heart that said ‘Marry Me’. And yes, that’s the real deal; we couldn’t have asked for a better product to make. We also made a ring to go with it.” Though they’ve only just gotten started, PieceMaker plans to install two more pilots over the summer and will launch more in October to coincide with the holidays – all in Pittsburgh. Then, in 2015, the company plans to begin taking national sign-ups for interested parties across the US who’d like to have a Factory-In-A-Store implemented at their location.
If you’re lucky, the next time you’re at the movies, mall or zoo with your kids, you can purchase an item on the Factory-In-A-Store, go about your business and come back twenty minutes later to pick up a neat 3D-printed souvenir.
Source: PieceMaker
