UltiMaker has officially retired Cloud Print.
Cloud Print was their method of connecting a fleet of 3D printers to a centralized control system. With it, you could dispatch jobs and monitor activity remotely, and it was used by many UltiMaker customers.
If it’s now retired, what are UltiMaker users to do? There is a replacement system, UltiMaker Digital Factory, which includes more advanced features. Features include:
- Cloud slicing (using cloud-based UltiMaker Cura)
- Remote monitoring and printing
- Print approval
- History and print queue
- Print job reports
- Scheduled maintenance
- Encrypted data — governed by EU laws
- Single sign on
- Official API for external workflows
- Expert support
UltiMaker Digital Factory provides a means to “slice, print and perfect” 3D models for a group of 3D printers and operators. They say the system is fully scalable from small teams all the way to a full enterprise setup involving multiple groups with varying access permissions.
UltiMaker said that a number of older 3D printers are not supported by UltiMaker Digital Factory, and notably they are all MakerBot models:
- Replicator Z18
- Replicator 5th Gen
- Replicator Mini
- Replicator Mini+
These systems, if still operating for some reason, would have to use the ancient MakerBot Print software, and they would not have an ability to participate in the cloud.
Where this service gets interesting is the pricing, as this is not really a free product.
UltiMaker provides three tiers of membership to UltiMaker Digital Factory. The “Free Pro” tier is designed for a single user and single 3D printer, but allows for only two projects, each of which can hold up to 20 stored files.
That seems quite restrictive to me, almost like a trial level. Any 3D printer operator would certainly have more than 20 files at hand.
Then we move into the paid tiers. The “Studio” tier allows up to ten 3D printers and 20 projects — which have an unlimited number of files each. This tier also provides “additional user roles”, which are likely used to organize access. The price listed is an US$800. Unfortunately, UltiMaker does not specify whether this fee is a one time charge, an annual fee, or a monthly rate.
Any one of those options seems quite expensive, and if it’s a monthly fee it is astounding. At that rate it might be easier to set up your own cloud network with open source tools.
There is another tier, the “Business” tier, which allows up to 40 3D printers, and has no limits. It’s priced at US$2800. If that’s a monthly rate, a 40-printer operation would be paying US$1.14M per year for the right to use those devices in UltiMaker Digital Factory.
Aside from the outrageous cost here, what if you have more than 40 3D printers? UltiMaker does say it is possible to have a solution “custom tailored”, so there are other options.
I’m sure that UltiMaker Digital Factory does provide an excellent service for those operating UltiMaker equipment, but the costs do appear quite high. It may be that UltiMaker is counting on sales to institutions requiring control, security and corporate confidence, who may be willing to pay the price for those features.
Via UltiMaker
