United RepRap production capacity

The aggregate production capacity of RepRap is potentially HUGE. Moreover, I'm thinking that commercial production could be allocated to RepRappers near the recipient.

Imagine this: (if it at least reasonably applies to you)
Your RepRap is online and stocked with fillament, waiting for a print-job. Imagine you have an agent-technology script that accepts print-jobs from a given price when you're not using the printer. You put the printed object in a box/bag and a shipping label is printed with a click of a button. E.g. when you do groceries, you drop off you 'produce' at the post office.

Could you answer these questions:
1. How do you feel about doing prints for others, with someone else good at selling making the sell of a design that is not yours?

2. If you have the lowest price and the required quality requirements (type of thermoplast, build volume, etc.), you get the print job.

The envisioned organization offers you print jobs is a commercial company, but has a mission to support and fuel the community and adhere to its ethics.

3. The organization that offers you paid print jobs is a non-profit. This is:
a) a requirement
b) very important
c) of some importance
d) not important at all

4. How do you feel about higher rewards when produced/shipped faster.

5. How do you feel about quality audits to ensure customers get quality and the production network is trusted more.

Imagine this (if it at least reasonably applies to you):
"You have an idea about an object, or you need something yourself. The object is of potential use to many other people, but you cannot really reach them and they don't have a RepRap(per friend) themselves."

6. Would you like it that people have or use your product?

7. Would you like it if you could earn a bit with every print that is made, without any additional work needed from your site?

8. Would you like to design custom parts for people but GNU open source them?

9. Do you prefer an optional donation fee for the design or a (modest) obligatory payment (mind that people could share the 'STL like illegal mp3')?

10. How do you feel about:
Your design being used and improved upon by someone else. Another person including parts of your design in another project and all sorts of collaborative effect as in open source projects?

Right now, designs are discussed and published ad-hoc (wiki and blog style).

11. Would you appreciate an environment that stimulates collaboration and supports it with revision systems geared towards 3D development, integration of 3D libraries in the website to generate renderings of the object, a catalog/labeling system, modification notifications, etc.?

---

Regards,

Erik de Bruijn
[Ultimaker.com] - [blog.erikdebruijn.nl]

ErikDeBruijn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The aggregate production capacity of RepRap is
> potentially HUGE. Moreover, I'm thinking that
> commercial production could be allocated to
> RepRappers near the recipient.
>
> Imagine this: (if it at least reasonably applies
> to you)
> Your RepRap is online and stocked with fillament,
> waiting for a print-job. Imagine you have an
> agent-technology script that accepts print-jobs
> from a given price when you're not using the
> printer. You put the printed object in a box/bag
> and a shipping label is printed with a click of a
> button. E.g. when you do groceries, you drop off
> you 'produce' at the post office.
// haven't thought about this as a source of income. If I really needed some more cash, it'd be a nice option locally (immediate geography).


>
> Could you answer these questions:
> 1. How do you feel about doing prints for others,
> with someone else good at selling making the sell
> of a design that is not yours?
// not theoretically adverse to it, but it would rank low on my list of uses for my machine. It sounds like I'm a printshop and that wouldn't be my objective.


>
> 2. If you have the lowest price and the required
> quality requirements (type of thermoplast, build
> volume, etc.), you get the print job.
>
> The envisioned organization offers you print jobs
> is a commercial company, but has a mission to
> support and fuel the community and adhere to its
> ethics.
// sounds like a neat idea. It's like priceline or eloan.com where makers bid for your business. I see students installing the agent software.


>
> 3. The organization that offers you paid print
> jobs is a non-profit. This is:
> a) a requirement
> b) very important
> c) of some importance
> d) not important at all
// d) it's really not important, but I may work with them a bit more if they are a non-profit that does good work.


>
> 4. How do you feel about higher rewards when
> produced/shipped faster.
// nice option to have, but it doesn't currently motivate me since I'm not building one for cash flow.


> 5. How do you feel about quality audits to ensure
> customers get quality and the production network
> is trusted more.
// if I were a customer, I'd probably want to see that a particular reprap has met minimum specs. Maybe you can have like a reprap seal of quality


> Imagine this (if it at least reasonably applies to
> you):
> "You have an idea about an object, or you need
> something yourself. The object is of potential use
> to many other people, but you cannot really reach
> them and they don't have a RepRap(per friend)
> themselves."
>
> 6. Would you like it that people have or use your
> product?
// by "product" I presume you mean a 3D part I designed? sure, why not. If it's helpful for them. Wouldn't I be presuming too much though that I have a solution for them for what sounds like a 3rd-world nation (since I can't reach them).


>
> 7. Would you like it if you could earn a bit with
> every print that is made, without any additional
> work needed from your site?
// huh?


>
> 8. Would you like to design custom parts for
> people but GNU open source them?
// don't have an answer.



> 9. Do you prefer an optional donation fee for the
> design or a (modest) obligatory payment (mind that
> people could share the 'STL like illegal mp3')?
// don't have an opinion.

>
> 10. How do you feel about:
> Your design being used and improved upon by
> someone else. Another person including parts of
> your design in another project and all sorts of
> collaborative effect as in open source projects?
// that's the open source spirit. For certain projects, it is perfect. But it really depends on the project at hand. It's like you choose the license appropriate to your project and the team you're with.

>
> Right now, designs are discussed and published
> ad-hoc (wiki and blog style).


>
> 11. Would you appreciate an environment that
> stimulates collaboration and supports it with
> revision systems geared towards 3D development,
> integration of 3D libraries in the website to
> generate renderings of the object, a
> catalog/labeling system, modification
> notifications, etc.?
// you mean reprap designs? or 3D objects in general?. Or do you mean like a database of 3D objects with like a google/dejanews/amazon interface on top. Any resource is typically positive. The more organized and up to date, the easier it is to use.

> 7. Would you like it if you could earn a bit with
> every print that is made, without any additional
> work needed from your site?
// huh?

Sorry, this is obviously not clear. What I meant is this: if someone embeds a video from youtube.com, you show it on your website. Imagine this is a showcase of a 3D product or 3D product listing, with a buy button. If the sale is made, it is the website on which it was embedded that makes the sell, so its owner is rewarded. This would stimulate webmasters to target the 3D products where the opportunities are.
This means you don't really need to do any work because the entire selling and production process is done for you (the network does this).

---

Regards,

Erik de Bruijn
[Ultimaker.com] - [blog.erikdebruijn.nl]

1. Not at all.
2. Good idea but I don't think it will have staying power with repraps well on the way to full replication and with the idea of self-assembly not un-reasonable. This makes it accessible to all and thus thwarts business models of this sort.
3. Definitely needs to be non-profit.
4. Again, not really applicable in my opinion. At least, not for very long.
5. Kinda invasive for something I've thrown together in my spare time...
6. I absolutely want them to have access to my designs. As for getting it to them myself...not so much a concern. Availability of the machine is what I'll worry about.
7. Eh, for some but not for me. Again, not gonna be viable very long.
8. Depends on if I'm very interested in the project or not.
9. Don't care. I'm only gonna work on it if I'm interested. That's payment enough and file sharing is a fact of life not something you get to choose to like or dis-like.
10.I want this to happen. Make it better and give me more to think about and tinker with.
11.Most definitely. Give me an easy way to create to go along with my easy way to fabricate!

Demented