Document Type

Closed Project

Publication Date

Winter 2012

Instructor

Charles Weber

Course Title

Technology Marketing

Course Number

ETM 555/655

Subjects

New products -- Management, New products -- Marketing, New products -- Planning, Three-dimensional printing -- Technological innovations, Rapid prototyping

Abstract

Our product is a low cost ($1,299) three dimensional prototyping machine, commonly known as a “personal 3D Printer”. The product name is “The Cube” and is produced by 3D Systems, Inc.

Our customers are companies interested in speeding up their New Product Development (NPD) process by decentralizing their prototyping capability. Currently, firms design products or components using Computer Aided Design (CAD). Once the CAD design is complete, the file is converted to STL format (Stereo Lithography) and sent to an outside vendor or an internal prototype department. The outside vendor or internal department will create the prototype using an expensive 3D printer. The outsourcing process generally takes around 2 weeks at a cost of $300. Our system will allow each designer to have a desk‐top prototyping station, thereby reducing the prototyping time to 2 hours at a cost $10.

3D Systems is an established manufacturer of 3D Printers with an existing customer base. 3D Systems is currently a market leader in higher cost 3D Printers. The Cube is one of the lowest cost (sub $1300) products on the market designed for the consumer segment. The Cube stands out in the market as the lowest cost and easiest to use with established technical / customer support. The price of printer materials (Amorphous Thermo‐Plastics) and printing speed is comparable to other systems on the market. The Cube is not as flexible as some competitors; however the marketing team believes the majority of companies and consumers are not interested in an open source system which allows for manual “hacking” of the hardware and software. The primary competitor, MakerBot, targets the at‐ home hobbyist, while our product is more targeted to the mainstream user.

Rights

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Comments

This project is only available to students, staff, and faculty of Portland State University

Persistent Identifier

http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/22598

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