Former MakerBot Team Launches Voodoo Manufacturing 3D Printing Service Bureau

MakerBot powered Voodoo Manufacturing has announced that they are officially opened for business and taking orders. As the newest 3D printing service bureau on the block, Voodoo is setting themselves apart by offering fast and inexpensive single prints, parts in small batches or large volume production using only low-cost desktop 3D printers. Users can upload models directly on the Voodoo website, or use the Voodoo API to direct customer orders from their website to the Voodoo Manufacturing printing queue automatically. They also offer a full selection of CAD consulting services from developing entire concepts or just verifying the printability of the design.

The scrappy new startup was launched in June by a team of ex-MakerBot engineers who came up with a pretty simple idea for making 3D printing affordable and accessible to everyone. Rather than dozens of expensive, industrial 3D printers that cost money in terms of upkeep, technicians and materials, Voodoo Manufacturing uses a bank of more than 125 MakerBots that are all controlled using proprietary software. Their software allows all of the 3D printers to be managed by a single technician. At the speed that they are able to produce 3D printed products, the Voodoo team is certain that they are the most affordable and highest-capacity 3D printing service in the industry.

“At Voodoo, we’re all about speed, scale, and price. By using MakerBots, which are 1/10 the cost of traditional 3D printers, we can grow our factory effortlessly to meet additional demand in an instant. Some people say that desktop 3D printers are not reliable enough to operate at this scale. At Voodoo, we disagree. We have achieved what others thought was impossible. Because we are a factory born from software, we can run our 127 printers with a single person,” said Voodoo Manufacturing co-founder and CEO Max Friefeld.

Voodoo Manufacturing’s setup allows their printer farm to handle orders of virtually any quality and is capable of producing prototypes and even completed products ready for sale. Customers can upload small orders onto the website and instantly receive a quote and an option to place their order. Voodoo will work closely with customers placing high-volume orders to optimize the design, printability and end quality to maximize 3D printing time, and minimize cost to their customer. Currently Voodoo can manufacture large runs of individual parts of up to 10,000 units at a time.

The company also offers an API that will give small businesses and online retailers the option to automatically send orders from their own websites directly over to Voodoo’s print queue. The orders will be cleaned and shipped directly to the customer without online store owners ever needing to involve themselves in the process. Interested businesses are encouraged to contact the Voodoo Manufacturing team directly about incorporating their API onto their website.

“Voodoo’s expertise and knowledge of 3D printing and the software that powers it is introducing an innovative new model for the industry. We are thrilled to watch them build out their services and expand their offering of 3D printing and design,” said VP of Business Development at MakerBot Gil Maman.

While the Voodoo team was preparing to launch they were already taking on select projects to test out their 3D printing workflow. Some of their clients included Viacom, Local Motors and Chipotle Mexican Grill. They also worked with Intel and design studio Chromat on their 3D printed adrenaline dress. Voodoo Manufacturing has also recently announced that they will be teaming up with Etsy as one of the first partners for their new manufacturing program.

It is clear that the Voodoo Manufacturing team is counting on their speed and pricing structure to set them apart from the other companies offering 3D printing services online. Considering that almost everyone who 3D prints anything does so using PLA on a FDM 3D printers, they are eliminating most of the overhead that their competitors are required to deal with, which should keep prices pretty low. With a large amount of automated 3D printers working around the clock combined with only offering the services of desktop 3D printers is going to allow them speed and affordability that more full-service companies can’t offer. Provided they can keep the quality up Voodoo Manufacturing could have created a comfortable new niche for themselves.

Have you used this new service?  Let us know what your thought.  Discuss in the Voodoo Manufacturing forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out this video of the Voodoo Manufacturing factory in action: