5 Ways 3D Printing Can Transform Your Brand

When you think of 3D printing, there are a number of industries that come to mind that can clearly benefit from the technology. From manufacturers to inventors, 3D printing offers an economical way of producing a product without a huge investment.

Instead of having to come up with the capital to have thousands of units manufactured through traditional manufacturing processes, you can simply order a dozen or so prototypes and then have any subsequent orders printed on demand. But businesses with a specific product to sell are not the only types of business that can benefit from 3D printing.

Here are 5 ways 3D printing can transform your brand, no matter what kind of business you run.

1. Create Brand-Compatible Items

No matter what line of business you are in, there is most likely a product that your employees, staff, clients, consumers or even others in your industry would benefit from. Think of surgeons who create new tools to better accomplish surgical procedures or imagine a makeup artist creating a new implement to help better apply makeup.

Just remember, someone once invented the scalpel, the makeup sponge and the mascara tube. Creating a product compatible with your business could create a whole new revenue stream for your business and possibly even outstrip the revenues your main business generates.

2. Offer Specialized Loyalty Gifts

Imagine giving your very best clients, consumers or sales staff a one-of-a-kind, limited edition branded gift. While this has always been an option for larger companies and brands, even the smallest companies can now create both brand and employee loyalty by offering specialized gifts or rewards.

The best part is, you can offer rewards as part of employee incentives and don’t have to make a large bulk order if only a few employees meet expected goals. Conversely, if your employees shock you with their performance, you can order as many rewards as you need.

3D printing also offers the ability to have items quickly produced on-demand, which means you can purchase the exact number of items you need and don’t have to worry about what to do with a huge excess.

3. Test Market Items

In the past, if you wanted to create a new product, you had to invest heavily in forms to manufacture a prototype before you even knew if the product would sell or not. With 3D printing, however, the initial investment is much lower.

This means you can have a prototype created and test market it before investing heavily in inventory. This allows even the smallest of businesses to be able to test a number of items before investing in one they eventually believe will sell.

Even when you have determined that the product has a good shot at selling, you still don’t have to invest heavily in inventory. In many cases, consumers can place orders directly with the printer who can produce the item on-demand.

4. Create Different Versions of the Same Product

Sometimes, it is the smallest of features that cause consumers to flock to one brand over another. Perhaps one shoe brand makes their shoes just a few millimeters wider than their competitors, which causes everyone with slightly wider feet to prefer their shoes. If the number of people with wide feet outnumbers those with narrow feet, this can create a significant increase in sales and possibly even wipe out some of the competition entirely.

Sometimes, however, you don’t know what features will cause one version of a product to sell better than others. 3D printing offers the opportunity to create a few different versions of the same product to see which one your clients and consumers prefer the most.

5. Experiment with New Materials

Technology has not only expanded the ways in which certain materials can be produced, but it has also created a whole new range of materials with which to create them from. Lycra, spandex, polyester, ceramic, cubic zirconia, rubber and synthetic silk are all examples of materials that didn’t exist a century ago. Not only is there a wider range of materials with which to make products than ever before, but new processes and materials are being invented and created every day.

In fact, many man-made materials were invented simply because they were what someone needed in order to create a certain product. Today, products can be manufactured from recycled bottles, cans and tires, tomorrow they might be created from recycled phone books or computer parts.

Wrapping Up

From accountant to lawyers to hair stylists, 3D printing offers applications that can be applied to almost every business, service or industry. As with all products, as the technology advances, the price will continue to drop even further. It may not be long before everything from t-shirts to business cards can actually be 3D printed to create interesting and unusual items that truly stand out from the crowd – in 3D.

Jasmine Williams covers the good and the bad of today’s business and marketing. When she’s not being all serious and busy, she’s usually hunched over a book or dancing in the kitchen, trying hard to maintain rhythm, and delivering some fine cooking (her family says so). Tweet her @JazzyWilliams88.