That's the one I get yesterday as well. I think they are attempting to reboot the company relying on the value of brand recognition over anything else, also hoping that old customers will have loyalty to the company and want to come back. The rest of the information was pretty light on details, it mostly sounds like they are trying to start over in the original facility in the Netherlands with a few of the previous staff on board.
Just my TL
R two cents-
-That's great that they are trying to 're-boot', but a lot of things have to happen I think before they will be the right option for me in the US. For starters, it's a new company that only owns some of the original intellectual property; right now it is Shapeways in name only, nothing carried over and their terms of service are pretty non-existent. That's fine, this is a new endeavor, but this a brand new company and I don't think they have even figured a lot of specifics out.
-This re-start is happening at one facility in (I believe) the Netherlands. Right away that sounds like a logistical shipping headache for me in the USA, never mind the cost. The old Shapeways was completing and shipping from multiple facilities in multiple countries, there are no longer any operating Shapeways-owned facilities in the States to complete anything.
-Piggybacking off of the above, the new company hasn't outlined exactly WHAT ROLE they will have in the order fulfillment process yet. Are they going to just complete all orders in-house in the Netherlands for now, and ship all over? That doesn't sound like an attainable business plan, especially with all of the other printing options available these days. Are they going to also use third-party printers and manufacturers to complete orders, and if so how will they protect their customers? That's been my concern with Craftcloud.
Craftcloud3d (to my understanding) is really just working as an intermediary that is connecting customers like me to 3rd-party printing and manufacturing companies that then do the actual production; CC3D isn't producing ANYTHING, they are just brokering deals between us and manufacturers for a fee. When it was just the old Shapeways, they were on the hook for any problems I had with quality/shipping/etc, and responsible to fix it. I have not had any problems with Craftcloud yet, but what happens when I get a decent-size order through their platform and the parts are low-quality, out of spec, whatever? Is it going to be that spiderman meme of me pointing at CC3D who is pointing at the actual manufacturer who is pointing at me, everyone blaming everyone else and no one fixing anything? If Shapeways is going to be a broker, I might as well stick with CC3D until I can compare customer service experiences fairly between the two.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk lol, but any ways I don't think Shapeways has the capital or facilities to be successful globally again. They don't have the money or infrastructure, and even if they did, this is NOT the same market they essentially cornered 10+ years ago. Too much competition, too many home printers, they'll get priced-out unless they bring in outside help.
Just my TL
R two cents--That's great that they are trying to 're-boot', but a lot of things have to happen I think before they will be the right option for me in the US. For starters, it's a new company that only owns some of the original intellectual property; right now it is Shapeways in name only, nothing carried over and their terms of service are pretty non-existent. That's fine, this is a new endeavor, but this a brand new company and I don't think they have even figured a lot of specifics out.
-This re-start is happening at one facility in (I believe) the Netherlands. Right away that sounds like a logistical shipping headache for me in the USA, never mind the cost. The old Shapeways was completing and shipping from multiple facilities in multiple countries, there are no longer any operating Shapeways-owned facilities in the States to complete anything.
-Piggybacking off of the above, the new company hasn't outlined exactly WHAT ROLE they will have in the order fulfillment process yet. Are they going to just complete all orders in-house in the Netherlands for now, and ship all over? That doesn't sound like an attainable business plan, especially with all of the other printing options available these days. Are they going to also use third-party printers and manufacturers to complete orders, and if so how will they protect their customers? That's been my concern with Craftcloud.
Craftcloud3d (to my understanding) is really just working as an intermediary that is connecting customers like me to 3rd-party printing and manufacturing companies that then do the actual production; CC3D isn't producing ANYTHING, they are just brokering deals between us and manufacturers for a fee. When it was just the old Shapeways, they were on the hook for any problems I had with quality/shipping/etc, and responsible to fix it. I have not had any problems with Craftcloud yet, but what happens when I get a decent-size order through their platform and the parts are low-quality, out of spec, whatever? Is it going to be that spiderman meme of me pointing at CC3D who is pointing at the actual manufacturer who is pointing at me, everyone blaming everyone else and no one fixing anything? If Shapeways is going to be a broker, I might as well stick with CC3D until I can compare customer service experiences fairly between the two.
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk lol, but any ways I don't think Shapeways has the capital or facilities to be successful globally again. They don't have the money or infrastructure, and even if they did, this is NOT the same market they essentially cornered 10+ years ago. Too much competition, too many home printers, they'll get priced-out unless they bring in outside help.
