The mysterious Kraftwurx finally appeared publicly last week at CES, where they showed off their new 3D print service. We spoke with founder Chris Norman, who explained they’ve recently received a patent award for his complex and detailed vision of a 3D print service.
The concept is to combine an online “storefront” containing a wide variety of 3D content with a network of 3D print service bureaus behind the scenes.
It works like this:
- Someone selects an item to print, picks the material to be printed in (Kraftwurx now offers over 70 different materials, some seen in the image above)
- The system automatically dispatches the print request to the most appropriate and nearby service provider.
- They’ll print the item and ship it directly to you.
How do they maintain quality among this network of providers? Kraftwurx has a qualification process to become part of the network. They seek only bureaus that operate large-scale commercial 3D printers, such as those from EOS, Stratasys or 3D Systems. At this time they can boast of a network that now numbers over 111.
Via Kraftwurx
