Staples, Office Depot And 3D Printing
Read the complete article at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshsh...d-3d-printing/
Several years passed before personal computers reached the mainstream market. 3D printers might get there sooner. Two major retailers - Staples SPLS -0.03% and Office Depot ODP +0.63% – joined a growing list of major retailers pushing 3D printers to consumers.
After announcing its intention to stock 3D printers online in August, office supply store Office Depot launched a month-long pilot program at it’s Denver store to provide customers with “hands-on” experience of 3D printing. As part of the program, employees at the store will demonstrate 3D printing uses to customers. They will print sample objects designed by professional artists on 3D systems’ Cube printers.
“I am a great believer that seeing is believing,” says George Hill, senior vice president of copy and print solutions at Office Depot, referring to the initiative’s attempt to demystify 3D printers. He explained that the Florida-based company’s strategy for 3D printing was based on customer feedback. “We want to be in the business the way customers see us,” he says.
On the other side of the pond, another office supply store – Staples – launched a 3D printing service for customers in Europe.
The service is a partnership with Irish 3D printing startup, Mcor Technologies. The Staples website works in a service bureau model. This means customers can 3D print objects based on designs in online storefronts (created by designers). The objects are printed using paper and chemically treated to form the final product.
There are two advantages to using paper. First, costs for the 3D printed object are significantly reduced because the printing material – paper – is relatively inexpensive and plentiful as compared to plastic (which is commonly used for 3D printing). Second, it is easier to include multiple colors in paper-based 3D printed object. This is unlike colored 3D printed plastic objects (which are limited in the number and quality of colors they can display).
When he was here for the Inside 3D printing conference, Conor McCormack, co-founder and chief executive officer at Mcor, told me that Staples’ service was targeted at the consumer demographic. According to him, consumers familiar with paper and ink would “feel more comfortable” with paper-based 3D printed objects. According to Oscar Pakasi, business development manager with Staples Europe, the service will be rolled out to Spain and Italy by the end of this year.
An interesting point to note about Staples’s strategy is that the company already stocks Cube 3D printers in select stores here in the States. Thus, their 3D printing strategy is product-related in the United States as opposed to their service play in Europe. While he refused comment on the company’s US strategy, Pakasi mentioned that services are more sustainable as a business for 3D printing.
