Gerald Beranek is a product development engineer and, as the owner of Generation Y WorX, has come up with a pretty interesting way of developing his products for sale in the marketplace. After using 3D printing for the past seven years through his work as a medical engineer at CIVCO Medical Solutions, Gerald bought a MakerBot Replicator 2, which he has used to prototype products for his own company. But, before going into the mass production of his goods, he thought he’d try to test the waters of the marketplace by selling the prototypes themselves.
Gerald has designed a few different practical and interesting items, ranging from an angled corner shelf to prop up a baby monitor to custom auto parts. 3D printing those products on his MakerBot has given him the ability to test the market demand for his goods. Before he goes into mass producing the items, Gerald has been selling the 3D printed versions on websites like Etsy and eBay to determine if there are people out there who would be interested in buying them. Gerald says that this plan has been working out well for him, allowing him to make about $500 in one month.
Thanks to the customizability of 3D printed goods, all of Gerald’s items are personalized specifically for the client. Customers can select the colour and design variations of their outlet cover shelf or the text written on their Iowa-shaped wall plaque. The ability to customize is amplified for the Iowa-based designer’s 3D printed car equipment. Gerald explains,
I have been designing custom car parts for customers. Normally these parts would cost quite a bit when cnc machined from aluminium. So I design the parts for 3D printing and it allows me to configure these parts in a different and better way since they don’t have to be cnc machined. The best part is 3D printing has offered a more cost effective solution for my customers that require custom parts for their custom cars.
Such personally tailored car parts include speaker grills that match custom rims, a 3D printed dash cover for speciality gauges, a specially designed CD player/equalizer mount and a lot more.
Of course, Gerald won’t be mass producing custom auto parts, but his case study on 3D printed home goods sold on ecommerce sites is a great idea for any would-be entrepreneur to copy. For instance, one of his Etsy customers has provided feedback about his K-cup Outlet Cover (for storing 12 K-cup coffee pods around an electrical outlet) that may indicate a future in mass producing the item, saying, “This K-cup Outlet Cover is so cool! I can’t wait to use it. I don’t have a lot of counter space and this is going to work perfectly. Wonderful transaction. Arrived quickly. THANK YOU!” I can easily imagine Gerald’s outlet covers sold in places like Marshalls or other home goods stores and, if he receives enough positive feedback, maybe they will be.
Source: Generation Y WorX
