A note from Tom Clay (one time CEO of Z Corporation) is enlightening on a number of fronts — for one, Tom has stayed in the 3D printing industry, also, he’s been working on something new, and that ‘something new’ is a new business model in the 3D printing space — dedicated to that headache of an issue: 3D printing materials.
This is good news on every front actually.
So what are we talking about here?
That would be “3D Printing Materials Corporation” (3DPMC) — a new source for high quality, high performance 3D Printing materials options, according to Tom. In more detail — 3DPMC uses a crowd-sourcing model to find innovative new material solutions and test them with expert users. Once a new material has been submitted, the material is evaluated for safety and then vetted by members of the expert user community, typically a user or expert in 3D printing. For materials that are highly rated the company contracts for high quality formulation and packaging, makes the solution available through 3DPMC.com, and pays a royalty to the individual or group that summited the material.
According to Tom, who is a 3DPMC Board Member: “Long time innovators and pioneers in 3D printing have been developing new solutions on a limited basis for some time. The team at 3DPMC has put together a model that enables the whole community to benefit, for quality to be assured and for the innovators to be rewarded for their ideas. The 3D printing users that we have spoken to about this concept are excited to have more options and to see more innovation in the marketplace.”
Tom is not the only ex-Zcorp personnel to be involved in this project. So too is Mike Vogel, former Vice President of Research and Development at Z Corp, ensuring a visible team that speaks volumes of the strong credentials for this new venture. Now also a board member at 3DPMC, Mike commented: “One risk to trying a new material on a 3D printer is being sure of quality and compatibility. 3DPMC’s approach and the expertise of those both developing solutions and testing them before release should make any potential user feel comfortable. Some of those developing solutions were the brains behind some of the most important breakthroughs in 3D Printing.”
Interested parties can visit the site and subsequently purchase vetted solutions, suggest ideas for new products that can be viewed by others and share freely best practices and ideas that can benefit other users of 3D printing. Those with materials innovations can also make contact with 3DPMC directly and start the process of qualifying their solution for broader use in the community.
I’m looking forward to seeing the feedback on this one!
