Royal Mail pilots 3D printing service at London delivery office
Royal Mail is testing out the possibilities of 3D printing at one of its delivery offices in Central London. The UK’s universal postal service provider said it was gauging customer interest in the growing technology with the pilot, which started this week at the New Cavendish Street delivery office near busy Oxford Street.
The company is partnering with 3D printing firm iMakr on the pilot.
Customers will be able to purchase from iMakr’s online library of 3D printable objects at Myminifactory.com and have items printed and delivered by Royal Mail.
They will also be able to bring their own designs to print at the delivery office or at the iMakr store on Clerkenwell Road in the Farringdon area.
3D printing involves the production of plastic products or components one layer at a time, “printed” three dimensionally.
Royal Mail said 3D printing is one of the fastest growing areas of IT, with predictions that 2.3m 3D printers will be sold worldwide by 2018. Most of these printers are predicted to be used by large industrial firms, with consumer take-up lagging 5-10 years from mainstream adoption.
But, the postal company said the technology is being “swiftly embraced” by consumers and SMEs to create prototypes, models and customised items.
Mike Newnham, Royal Mail’s chief customer officer, said: “3D printing is an emerging technology that has many applications and offers an innovative way to create unique or personalised objects. It can be prohibitively expensive for consumers or small businesses to invest in a 3D printer, so we are launching a pilot to gauge interest in 3D printing to sit alongside Royal Mail’s e-commerce and delivery capability.”
Opportunity
Royal Mail is one of a growing number of postal operators looking into 3D printing as an emerging technology bridging the digital-physical worlds, and offering the possibility of new revenue streams. Singapore Post is rolling out new post offices that provide 3D printers in-store, while France’s La Poste set up 3D printers in three post offices in Paris this time last year.
The US Postal Service Inspector General issued a report last summer claiming that 3D printing could be a $485m-a-year opportunity for the US Postal Service.
Royal Mail’s partner iMakr is a 3D printer retailer that started up in early 2013 by technology entrepreneur Sylvain Preumont. Opened in May 2013, the company says its London store is the largest 3D printing store in the world, and it opened up a store in Manhattan in June this year.
Romain Kidd, CEO of the iMakr Group, said partnering with Royal Mail would mean introducing 3D printing technology to more people.
“Royal Mail customers will find unique objects created by the best community of designers for 3D printing, a market in rapid development for which MyMiniFactory.com is delivering key 3D printable content and products like MyMiniFactory TV.”
