Rapid Prototype Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Action’

Watch revolutionary new 3D Printer technology in action at the Technology Sandbox at SIGGRAPH 2011, the largest conference in the world for 3D animation, computer graphics and new visual arts technology. In this demo, the 3D Printer is the MakerBot Thing-O-Matic.

With dedicated daily commitment, this goal is very achievable.  Stick to this action plan and stay focused and organized.

Network Online

Start by setting up a professional profile on Linked In, Facebook and Twitter. Complete your profiles 100%. Post business/personal messages about you and your career that are real and interesting a few times a week.  Join groups that relate to printing/networking (i.e. For Linked In, some suggestions are Commercial Printing, Direct Mail, Brand Activation, Linkup-National Networking Group).  Follow people on Twitter with similar backgrounds and common goals to expand your reach.  Create a fan page on Facebook (printing referral page). Publish this page on Facebook to make it “public”.  This will allow you to expand your brand and become noticed.  Participate in group discussion boards and also start your own group discussions to establish your credibility as an expert in your field.

2. Cross-Sell other printing products and serves that your company offers

If you are currently selling plastic and lenticular printing as your main product offering, branch out and expand your product offering to including paper printing, digital printing, direct mail services and any other product and service your company has to offer.  You can increase your customer base by being a “One Stop Shop” for an entire line of products and services.  Use the same networking channels and marketing actions to cross-sell and establish your credibility of knowledge with other print products and services.  Cross-sell to your existing client base as well to increase your sales dollars.  You already have these customers on your side so half the work is already done.

3.  Manage your time daily

It is easy to let your day slip away especially when focusing on new personal marketing and sales goals.  Create a daily plan of action at the end of each day to carry out the following day.  Mix up the action items into categories that include more generalized action items and very specific action items.  Establish a hierarchy of importance for these action items.  For instance, action items that must be done today and action items that need to be done today with time permitting.  Also establish a time frame to spend on each action item to keep your time in check.  By doing this, at the end of the day you will feel like you have accomplished some of your daily goals.  Besides listing your action times into columns of must get done today versus getting done today if time permits, also list in each column your action items that are necessary to maintain existing business versus action items that will allow you to grow your sales with new business.  This can include joining new groups, participating in group discussions or sending a group email to your existing clients announcing a new printing product.  Keep a good balance of action items that will maintain your existing client base as well as grow your sales.

4.  Keep up to date on new technology and industry trends and changes

It is always a good idea to stay current on new technology related to commercial printing.  This can relate to computer software for database management and pre-press graphics and/or printing and press equipment that is changing or enhancing industry products (new digital equipment).  This can also be related to new materials offered by suppliers such as a less expensive lenticular lens that produces extreme depth of graphics.  It may also be a recyclable paper that is considered more “green” and favored by many customers.  Just another positive talking point to be able to use in your arsenal of industry knowledge and product offerings as trends happen and customers want the latest and greatest.

5.  Fill in the gaps of your marketing by keeping in contact with existing clients and taking advantage of any other form of marketing your company has to offer its sales people

Stay connected to your existing client database by sending group emails asking them to join you on some of these social sites.  This will give your existing clients an opportunity to engage in some of the group discussions that you are involved in.  Thus, being another reinforcement as an industry expert.  Also stay connected to clients you already have done business with by cross-selling to them (offering other products).  Let them know you have these other products and services available.  Keeping connected with your existing customers on a regular basis via a group email will show them their business is important to you.  You will be able to manage your time more efficiently because you will have answered some of their questions in this group email rather than having to answer multiple individual emails.  Who knows, your customers may enjoy, look forward to and even be expecting the next group email you send them with top tips, industry trends and the latest news you have to offer.  If your company spends money on traditional forms of marketing channels and sends leads your way, follow up on these free leads right away. You never want to make a prospective client wait to receive an email or call back.  You personally did not have to do anything to receive this lead so take advantage and reply to this potential sale right away.

Say I find an action I really like. Is there a way I could figure out how this action was created? I could really learn a lot about techniques that way.

www.fabathome.org Fabbers (aka 3D Printers or rapid prototyping machines) are a relatively new form of manufacturing that builds 3D objects by carefuly depositing materials drop by drop, layer by layer. Slowly but surely, with the right set of materials and a geometric blueprint, you can fabricate complex objects. Believe it or not you can build your own fabber, Fab@home is a site with all what you need to build your own fabber, Our goal is to explore the potential of universal fabrication Machines that can use multiple materials to fabricate complete, active systems. Inspired by this history, the goal of this project is to offer an open-source, low-cost, personal SFF system kit, which we call “Fab@Home”. The aim of this project is to put SFF technology into the hands of those same curious, inventive, and entrepreneurial citizens. In addition, through this Wiki web site we hope to inspire users of Fab@Home to exchange their ideas for applications and their improvements to the hardware and software with us and each other. Several machines are already in use

Dimension SST 1200es 3D printer prints out 2 interlocked cube frames. “Dimension 1200es 3D Printers use ABSplus™ modeling material, a production-grade thermoplastic that is durable enough to perform virtually the same as production parts. Models are printed from the bottom up with precisely deposited layers of modeling and support material. There’s no waiting for models to cure — they’re ready for support removal right from the printer.”

Time lapse video showing the manufacture of an ABS prototype using a Dimension SST 3D Printer in the workshop of Notre Dame Catholic College Product Design Department in Leeds, West Yorkshire, UK. Please contact Dave Sumpner (dws@ndonline.ac.uk) or Ian Granger (ig@ndonline.ac.uk) for further information.

This is the newest machine on the market. It has the fastest print time, lowest material cost and is the easiest to use.

Our 3D Systems Viper SLA machine in action