Poland taking 3D printer production to new dimension

photo - flickr.com/Hindrik S

Several Polish electronics retail networks are slowly introducing 3D printers to their offer, including Saturn, Komputronik and Euro RTV AGD, which have launched cooperation with one of the Polish producers of the devices, Omni3D.

The manufacturer has also started cooperating with DIY stores chain Leroy Merlin, although the chain is not selling printers to customers but making them available for printing services.

So far, four 3D printing points have been started.

Omni3D, as well as its market peers Zortrax and ZMorph, are still at early stages of their business and are looking for outside financing to grow and get more from the market.

Omni3D has started a campaign with US crowd-funding platform Kickstarter to finance its new project.

The company wants to use 3D printing to produce portable wind turbines that generate up to 300 MW of electricity.

Zortrax oficially started doing business late last year, but already in January it got an order for 5,000 printers from IT giant Dell.

It initially raised funds through Kickstarter, then through a bond issue. It is now working on transforming into a joint-stock company and will later issue shares for further financing.

ZMorph is the producer of only one type of 3D printer, though a highly functional one, which can print in different materials. It is considering a bourse debut, either on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, or on the AIM market in London, which could raise some 5-10 million euro. (kw/pg)

Source: Gazeta Wyborcza