Trideo, an Argentine company started in March 2014, is offering 3D printers that are fully made in the country.
“The printers are entirely made here, from the initial bolt to the final component. Considering the limitation of imports and the exchange policy it is an environment somewhat special to buy machinery from abroad, but we can say we are in the range for similar machines," Nicolas Berenfeld, one of two founders of the company, told Latin Business Daily.
The company initially produced a model based on open source Prusa, which is very well-known in the makers community. But the founders soon realized it was not very user-friendly and, given recent technology advances, it failed to satisfy client needs.
“That´s when we focused on the development of the PrintBox model,” Berenfeld, who co-founded the company with Laurent Rodriguez, said. “The objectives for our development were obtaining a sturdier model which could support longer print jobs without overheating.”
The company has already launched two PrintBox models, with different impression volume capacities, and is planning a third product introduction, he said.
Keeping hardware production in Latin America makes it possible to offer better technical support,
Berenfeld
said.
“It is new technology and for people who are just starting it is better to have an accessible technical team that way we can work along with the user to improve his learning,” said Berenfeld, who has an engineering and administration background while his partner is an engineer. Trideos offers hardware, software and technical support all in one package, he said.
The machines come with a six-month warranty and a manual that allows users to identify and fix some potential problems on their own.
Trideo's the big objective is to enter other markets in the region.
“There are still differences here between markets so we´re trying to see if it would be best to keep all production here or do it there,” he said.
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