3d Printing at UPS

#1

Post by zfrenchee » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 1:08 AM UTC

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#2

Post by mikek » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 2:17 AM UTC

Nice to see an established player be forward thinking with repect to a technology that could be disruptive to their core business.

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#3

Post by hrdinsky » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 2:29 AM UTC

"...it is possible to use 3D scanners to reverse-engineer items and then print them out. This could open up a can of worms in patent and design infringements, and it remains to be seen how UPS will deal with such copying."

Same concerns can be said about Kinko's. This is another new generational problem that's probably not addressed in courts. Maybe a fair-use clause like at libraries and universities would be an interesting spin.

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#4

Post by Stupendous » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 2:36 AM UTC

I wonder what percentage of the packages UPS ships consists of items that can just be 3D-printed. Interesting way of keeping market share.

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#5

Post by moocowduckquack » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 2:41 AM UTC

cue rumble of distant thunder

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#6

Post by craftshape » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 2:50 AM UTC

Another alternative would be to find a nearest 3D printer in your neighborhood - https://www.mashape.com/nathantone/makexyz-1#!documentation

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#7

Post by jerrya » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 3:02 AM UTC

Interesting they are placing these at UPS stores, which would be close to the consumer.

I would expect that if it gets big enough, UPS would set up a central location, say at their HQ airport in Louisville and do much of their printing, next day, or same day, from there.

I can imagine doing my first prints until I get it right at a local store, and then future prints and/or drop shipments from the regional/national UPS 3D print shop.

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#8

Post by brianbreslin » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 3:33 AM UTC

These uprint se machines from stratasys run about $20k a piece. I bet this experiment costs ups less than $2m to do. From building out workflow to software to manage to training employees. For ups it's a drop in bucket.

I think we will see more of these trials soon.

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#9

Post by brittohalloran » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 3:50 AM UTC

Except that anything large enough or detailed enough to be worth printing takes many hours to run. Not a great "stop by and get something printed" use case. I think the best type of business here is a "upload your file and receive the part in the mail in 2 days".

Re: 3d Printing at UPS

#10

Post by gte910h » Thu, Aug 08, 2013, 4:03 AM UTC

brittohalloran wrote: post #9

Except that anything large enough or detailed enough to be worth printing takes many hours to run. Not a great "stop by and get something printed" use case. I think the best type of business here is a "upload your file and receive the part in the mail in 2 days".

If only they had a way to package it up and get it to you...