Slant 3D has launched a new take on 3D print services they call “Slant Box”.
3D print services have been around for decades, and they almost always operate in this way:
- Upload the 3D model.
- Get a quote.
- Specify quantity and materials.
- Service fulfills the order.
The Slant Box concept is quite different, and it is literally “a box”. Here’s how it works:
- Customer orders a box of parts in the usual manner.
- Slant 3D prints and sends the box of parts.
- Customer consumes parts from the box like it’s a box of inventory in the back room.
- Each time a part is pulled from the box, the customer scans a QR code.
- Slant 3D tracks part consumption via the QR code.
- When the box is near empty, it is automatically refreshed by Slant 3D.
For the customer, it is as if they have an endlessly full box of a part in their warehouse. There’s not much else they need to do, other than pay Slant 3D for the parts.
And it is actually a box. It seems that Slant 3D is using a standard small box to ship these parts. The box is designed to sit on a shelf as is typical for manufacturers, ready to provide parts for assembly, for example. The box’s lid also has the QR code displayed in a convenient location. The box defines the maximum volume of parts possible for a shipment, and combined with the part consumption rate, determines the frequency of refresh.
Slant 3D suggests thinking about Slant Box in a radical way: if you’re running your own print farm, just replace those pesky and labour-consuming 3D printers with a box that keeps getting filled with parts.
For Slant 3D, the Slant Box will certainly draw in more customers seeking simplicity and convenience: they don’t need to run their own print farm anymore. And not only does Slant 3D sell a box of parts, they also very likely gain a long-term customer with recurring orders that can be handled very easily.
This is quite a different take on 3D print services that turns around the situation: instead of the service focused on itself, it’s focused on the customer.
That alone just might generate a lot more customers.
Via Slant 3D
