NYC is increasingly becoming the global breeding ground of innovation and entrepreneurship. Unbeknownst to many, it’s also becoming the hub for a radical shift in how things are made — powered by 3D printing. In order to supercharge this shift, we’re opening up production in NYC this year and will in turn make 3D printing faster, more affordable, and more accessible for everyone.
As we lay down the groundwork for the “factory of the future,” we’re hiring the team of all stars who will make this all possible, including the Director of Operations who will lead us into the future. This person (ehem, superhuman) will be tackling incredibly challenging technical and operational problems that have yet to be solved anywhere in the world, questions like: How do we produce, sort, and ship thousands of unique items in different materials to customers all over the world on a daily basis? How do we take best practices from traditional manufacturing and apply them in the context of 3D printing? How do we scale our efforts as demand and product complexity increase exponentially?
This person will not be working alone. He or she will be inspiring the team that leverages the best from of our state of the art production facility in Eindhoven and will be working alongside our management team at NYC headquarters. He or she will also be working with our development and product teams, who are creating solutions to some of the more challenging problems in 3D design and production. So it goes without saying that we’re looking for a people person who is truly invested in the professional development of his colleagues.
This team will be leading our efforts to grow a global, decentralized personalized production network powered by 3D printers so that we can produces locally and efficiently. This team will be bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States, and supporting a growing community of designers who are now making a living through Shapeways and 3D printing.
We’re still searching for our Director of Operations, a person who is not only wickedly smart, but is passionate about the Shapeways vision and craves the start-up pace. If you know this person, or want to throw your hat in the ring, do not be shy! We can’t change the world without your help.
Applicants can apply through the Shapeways website, sending a resume and intro letter to jobs@shapeways.com.
Hiya,
Re: ‘How do we produce, sort, and ship thousands of unique items in different materials to customers all over the world on a daily basis?’
Simple extension of what you already do:
– Print your own envelopes (small items)
– Make and print your own boxes to the item size (larger items)
– Vaccum form the wrapper over the item and drop into package (alternately: Print the ‘wrapper’ as an extension of the item, cocoon-like)
– Pour in printed styrofoam
– Barcode ID for addressee/destination, linked to delivery service to print appropriate postage
Cheers,
Luis.
Packaging definitely needs to be improved, especially when multiple fragile items are shipped together:
http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=msg&th=7484&start=0&
I don’t think 3D printed shipping materials can compete price-wise with traditional materials (today;-).
Hiya,
That’s why I was wondering if a cocoon-like layer, printed at the same time would cope with this. Although that might be an issue depending on the material, it could just be printed in the cheapest plastic, regardless of what the original print was in. This would then become the ‘box’ that gets posted out.
The nice thing is that, if the digital (multi-material) printers were used, then this would automagically generate a cheap ‘packaging’ box AND print the address label at the same time… 🙂
If not, and they went into a traditional box, then printing thin ‘bubbles’ could make the printed packaging materials cheaper (on a material/volume basis) in time… 😉
Just have a cheap/older printer churning out bubbles that pour out onto the conveyor with open boxes…
Cheers,
Luis.
My (rejected) idea is to put mushroom spores into each box that grow to protect the parts during transit.
AND you could eat them
or use as compost.
Interesting!
Maybe a sturdier solution would be to use the fast growing Bamboo you see in many home decor shops. Have these grown to the shape of a box…
Cheers,
Luis.