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Makers of DittoPro 3D Printer Add Former MakerBot Director to Advisory Board

Watching the growth of the desktop 3D printer market, it’s interesting to note which manufacturers are implementing long-term business strategies to emerge as the future’s name brand 3D printer companies.  When two years ago there were a few prominent manufacturers, such as MakerBot, Ultimaker, and Printrbot, the game has started to change as the technology approaches mainstream consumers. For instance, British manufacturer Ion Core is pushing its marketing efforts to get out to consumers outside of the Maker community.

tinkerine studios dittopro 3D printer with eiffel towerIf you had asked me a couple of years ago if I thought that Tinkerine Studios, makers of the Ditto 3D printer, would end up being a name brand, I would have probably said “Tinker-who?”  The Canadian company has, however, been transforming itself into a viable 3D printer manufacturer by adding new members to its management team.  After the company was acquired by White Bear Resources, there’s been a concerted effort to refurbish the company’s Maker aesthetic to make it something a bit more polished.  In turn, we saw the release of the DittoPro, a cleaner looking version of its Ditto 3D printer, and the sale of some brand new PLA filaments from the company.  In order to keep up with the competition, Tinkerine has also just announced Tinkerine U, an educational package to help schools adopt 3D printing curricula, echoing similar programs from MakerBot, Printrbot, and Solidoodle.

The most recent step by the 3D printer manufacturer to maintain itself as a staple of the 3D printing industry has been to add MakerBot’s former Director of Distribution, RJ Wafer, to the Tinkerine advisory board.  Tinkerine Chairman, Desmond Liew, explained, “We are very excited about the appointment of RJ Wafer to our advisory board. He has a tremendous understanding of the 3D Printing prosumer market, his track record in sales and distribution will be a tremendous asset to us.”

The company has also taken on Ben Yan as their Channel Manager, with Liew saying, “I am equally excited to have our existing Advisory Board member Ben Yan step into the senior management role of Channel Manager for us. I’ve known Ben for many years so I have witnessed his track record and extensive management experience gained over 35 years of with Fortune 50 companies including Hewlett-Packard, Sun Microsystems, and Abbott Laboratory. Ben also co-founded GT Group Telecom.”

The moves by the company are meant to increase sales and distribution around the world and it is a further step towards completing the company’s transformation.  With the former MakerBot member on their team, Wafer’s description of the company as “a hard hitting underdog not to be underestimated” may be realized.