The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine Super 30 Companies of the Year 2019 | Page 69

3DCompare was founded by Alexander Ziff who serves as its CEO
individuals who also believed in the
mission. Furthermore, talking to
manufacturers and convincing them
to join a growing network presented
its own set of challenges.
The beauty of 3DCompare’s
platform lies in its simplicity.
Customers who need a particular
item manufactured can just log
on to the company’s platform,
upload design specifications for
their product, choose from among
a diverse range of materials
and get it printed out from a
convenient manufacturing location.
Furthermore, customers can also
get an instant quote on the price for
their product and even choose from
among numerous manufacturers
to fit their budget. What’s more
is that 3DCompare also offers
innovative solutions for corrections
in designs that have been uploaded
by customers so that they don’t
have to worry about inaccurate
designs being manufactured,
resulting in considerable loses. It
is such a commitment to customer
satisfaction that has stimulated
growth and cultivated a sense of
trust for 3DCompare.
In its commitment to ensuring
quality, 3DCompare has
implemented a strict set of
standards which are adhered to
when accepting manufacturers into
its network. Any 3D printing center
found flouting the rules more than
once are immediately removed.
Additionally, 3DCompare has an
excellent way of garnering feedback
from its clients, all of which are
used to assess numerous features
of 3DCompare’s marketplace
and improve customer service.
It is this culture of feedback that
has contributed to 3DCompare’s
enviable levels of customer
retention and customer satisfaction.
While 3DCompare aims to become
the biggest name in 3D printing, its
platform also offers 3D scanning.
Just as a conventional scanner scans
a piece of paper to produce a digital
rendering of what is written on it,
3D scanning analyzes a real-world
object and gathers information
on it to produce a realistic three
dimensional digital model of the
object. 3D scanning has applications
in various industries such as
augmented reality, virtual reality,
video gaming, industrial design,
quality inspection/control, reverse
engineering, and so on.
3D scanning operates on the
principle of collecting data about
a subject, which can be anything
from an object, an environment or
a person. The subject is captured
using something called ‘point cloud
data’. When scanning an object,
the scanner is pointed towards the
part and moved by the operator to
measure all or a large number of
points on the external surface of
the object. All the data points are
logged together by the scanner to
essentially form the outer layer of
the part, creating a 3D ‘cloud’ when
the physical object is taken away.
Point cloud data is later used to
create 3D CAD models of objects.
The manufacturing industry
is one of the cornerstones of a
nation’s economy. With most of
the manufacturing in Europe and
America being shipped off China,
that sector has been observing a
gradual slump over the last couple
of decades. However, given the
lower labor costs and overhead
in China, coupled with highly
favorable regulations, the challenge
of bringing manufacturing back
from China has been a tough one.
Establishing a network of 3D
printing centers across Europe and
the rest of the world is touted as
being an excellent first step towards
democratizing the manufacturing
industry.
SR
AUGUST 2019
69