Print Shops That Ship
Ben Shen@bgshok
−1.0%
since Oct 16
The idea
I think AI-assisted design is about to make custom objects easy to create, and within a few years the winners will be centralized online print shops that make a part and ship it to you, like a ghost kitchen for physical goods. The basket concentrates in the two public print-and-ship marketplaces and a 3D printing software leader, with smaller slices in printer makers, the materials they use, and the shippers and storefronts that deliver to regular customers.
What it owns
- Online platforms that accept designs, route them to factories, and ship finished parts directly to customers are the central engine of this take. · Xometry, Inc.It connects designers directly to manufacturing capacity and ships finished parts to buyers, embodying the print-and-ship model., Proto Labs, Inc.It operates centralized digital factories and a partner network to produce and ship custom parts quickly, matching the ghost-kitchen approach., Materialise NVIt operates one of the established print-on-demand services and sells software that prepares files for printing, benefiting from more design submissions.42%
- Software that makes it easier for non-experts to create designs drives the volume of orders sent to print shops in the first place. · Autodesk, Inc.Its design software tools, especially those incorporating artificial intelligence, could let people without technical skills create printable files., PTC Inc.It makes design software used to create the parts that become print shop orders.15%
- Print shops need industrial printers to fulfill orders, so growth in centralized printing demand translates into equipment sales. · Stratasys Ltd.It manufactures the industrial printers that print shops purchase to fulfill orders at scale., Nano Dimension Ltd.It has consolidated several printer manufacturers and holds capital to invest in becoming a larger equipment supplier to print shops., 3D Systems CorporationIt manufactures printers and materials sold to factories and service bureaus that fulfill custom orders., HP Inc.It sells Multi Jet Fusion printers designed for high-volume plastic part printing, the type of equipment print shops operate.14%
- Custom parts made at centralized factories must reach customers through shipping networks and online storefronts. · United Parcel Service, Inc.It operates one of the largest parcel networks through which custom-printed objects must travel from centralized factories to customers., FedEx CorporationIt delivers the fast, small shipments that print-and-ship services typically promise to their buyers., Etsy, Inc.It operates the most established storefront where regular consumers already buy custom and made-to-order goods.11%
- Specialty powders and alloys are consumed with every printed part, creating steady material sales as print volumes rise. · Carpenter Technology CorporationIt manufactures specialty alloys, including powders for metal printing, serving as the raw material supply for print shops making functional parts., ATI Inc.It produces specialty metal powders and alloys that power metal printers, generating sales tied to printing volume.8%
- Cash10%