Following in the footsteps of UPS in the U.S., Royal Mail is now offering a 3D printing service to UK customers from one of its Central London delivery offices.
In a new venture with leading 3D print service provider iMakr, Royal Mail is giving customers the opportunity to purchase ready to print items from MyMiniFactory.com and royalmail.com/3D to have printed and delivered by themselves.
Launching just in time for Christmas, from this week customers will be able to take part in the pilot scheme at the New Cavendish Street delivery office near Oxford Street. Working with 3D printing specialists at iMakr will allow Royal Mail to gauge consumer demand for this growing technology.
“3D printing is an emerging technology that has many applications and offers an innovative way to create unique or personalised objects,” explained Mike Newnham, Chief Customer Officer, Royal Mail. “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.”
Customers can either select items from iMakr or Royal Mail’s online portals or bring their own designs to print in the delivery office or at the iMakr store in London.
Romain Kidd, CEO of the iMakr Group, added: "iMakr is excited to bring to Royal Mail its expertise in 3D printing by offering customers an introduction into 3D printing through one if it Central London delivery offices and a selection of objects from MyMiniFactory.com. 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."
