If a company has Disrupt in its name, you can bet that its product will have something to do with 3D printing, which is potentially the most disruptive manufacturing technology invented since fire. If it turns out that that company makes surfboards, then it is not just disruptive, but it is also extremely cool. And, apparently, it works, since Australia-based Disrupt Surfing is now exporting its highly customized business model, based on 3D printing design technology, all the way to the UK, after enjoying success in the Asian market.
“Our mission,” the folks at Disrupt explain, “is to help you create and share your own customized surfboard. You tell us all about yourself, your ability, and what you’re trying to achieve with your surfing. We use 3D printing design technology to make a digital set up of your board, you direct the art, finish and design and we finish the rest. We only use the best quality, long lasting, eco-friendly materials.”
The process begins with customers providing the details of their custom surfboard, in order to create a digital file. The 3D render of your custom board is created based on the details provided to manufacture the board using thermoplastics (thus fused filament fabrication technology). The model is refined while the 2D digital design is uploaded to the shaping machine before it is glassed and sprayed. The finished, highly personalized board is then delivered to the customer’s doorsteps anywhere in the world.
The process using Disrupt’s Shaper Studio 3D (currently still in beta phase) is actually extremely intuitive, fast and fun. All you have to do is select your weight, ability, age, and then select the shape that you prefer. Add some color and designs, text and accessories, and you’re done. Then, you just call upon Disrupt’s shapers to digitally make your own unique surfboard.
As local website FutureSport reported, Disrupt was founded in 2014 by a surfing instructor and snowboard teacher originally from the UK. The company has already created 1,500 boards for customers in Australia, Sri Lanka, and Hong Kong and it has now launched in Europe, setting up a new HQ in the UK. While the UK market will serve to expand Disrupt’s reach and customer base even further, there is no doubt that this “distributed manufacturing thing” is proving quite a good fit for Australian companies, as 3D printing enables them to valorize a product by making it extremely unique and thus make it worthwhile to ship it globally.
More than a year ago we covered a company called Flying Machines that uses 3D printing to make custom bicycles down under and then deliver them worldwide. They are still quite unique in their business model and growing fast with new models and customization options. Surfboards are the next logical step and it certainly looks like this 3D printing pipeline is not about to end anytime soon.
Nice idea, but the price is no lower than a custom-shaped board using conventional means.