3DPRINTUK, one of the UK’s longest-established providers of 3-D printing services, has announced a new pricing structure for its Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) service that it will be trialling for the next few months. The company, a leading provider of additive manufacturing (AM) services, also plans to close the gap between AM and injection moulding — hence its new pricing structure for MJF. This is structured to reduce 3-D printed-part prices for more than 95% of MJF parts quoted — by up to 20% in most cases.

Nick Allen, 3DPRINTUK’s managing director, said: “Our pricing is based on several factors. Over the years — and with the addition of new materials, processes and plans for things to come — the calculations have become increasingly complex.

“Our standard ‘XYZ and offset’ pricing models on their own are outdated and no longer enough to evolve our offerings as a service. We have developed an in-house quoting system that optimises every quote and calculates the best possible outcome based on a number of factors to achieve the best possible price.

“The primary goal for the new pricing strategy is to improve the efficiency of every single build. More efficient builds allow for the reduction of prices as well as shortening lead times for customers. 3DPRINTUK’s current pricing has resulted in large parts being too cheap and smaller parts being too expensive, which created long queues for larger items and inefficient builds.”

Mr Allen added: “By adding new factors to the company’s pricing algorithm, we have been able to balance these out and reduce prices for smaller parts and reduce the lead times for almost all MJF orders. Although a very small percentage of prices for larger items will go up, we believe the overall benefits to the customer far outweigh these.

“As a founder of the transparent pricing structures, it saddens me to make the algorithm harder for customers to calculate prices remotely, but due to the complexities involved, the severe corporate plagiarism encountered over the years, and the huge benefits to the customer, we believe this is a firm step in the right direction.

“Prices are often the first and last thing that our customers are looking at. Remaining competitive, without compromising on the quality of parts that we produce is essential and we have put a great deal of work into this new structure to ensure our customers get the best deal. If the new structure is as successful as anticipated, it will be permanently implemented into 3DPRINTUK’s ecosystem.”