Exclusive Interview: Shining 3D Shines on in 3D Scanning and 3D Printing at CES 2017

CES is a fertile launching pad for exciting new products in technology, and the 2017 event was a buzz of activity as new products were rolled out left and right. In the 3D printing marketplace in the Sands expo hall, China’s Shining 3D was certainly shining bright as it used the event for a pre-launch and introduced two new products at CES — and the newest 3D scanner and 3D printer from this increasingly well-known company were drawing quite the crowd. On the second day of CES, I had the opportunity to talk with the team from Shining 3D, sitting down with Oscar Meza, Vice President of Global Sales, and Icy Xie, Marketing Director to discuss, as Xie put it, their “one-stop solution, from digitalizing to 3D printing.”

“Besides being very excited to be here at CES 2017, we have our pre-launch of two products with the EinScan-Pro+ 3D scanner and the EinStart-C 3D printer,” Meza told me. “The EinScan Pro+ brings a load of new functionalities, as well as significantly improved speed and accuracy. The EinStart-C is portable and is based on the idea to offer opportunities to explore 3D printing for those who want to learn more. It’s reliable and safe — we focused on new safety features, such as an alarm system for the door.”

Oscar Meza, Vice President of Global Sales, and Icy Xie, Marketing Director, Shining 3D

For a company focusing on markets including education, looking toward safety is a critical approach. Meza noted of the EinStart-C that, “The safety features and connectivity set it apart.” Among these features are a full enclosure to prevent the possibility for burns; a sensor that ensures the door is closed when starting or restarting a 3D print (the sensor can be deactivated if preferred), and for ease of use, an auto-calibration function relying on three build-in sensors in the print bed. For connectivity, the 3D printer is able to be operated solely via USB drive; connected via USB cable to a computer; or wirelessly via WiFi.

“The educational market is very important; we hope to continue working with those who get their start there, and are looking to partner with those in education to get into middle schools, high schools, and universities,” Meza explained. “We talked to a Mexican company who want to get 3D printers into kindergarten classes, but we think that may be a bit young. Maybe they could start with 3D scanning!”

Shining 3D is setting itself up to be a complete solution for those looking to digitize, as the company notes: “We can take you from a point cloud to a model and then 3D print that model.” Automation, Meza said, is here to stay and it is important to reach those in this new world — not just from a commercial point of view but to provide young people a strong technological start in their lives.

“More accessible technology can help to breech barriers between technology and common people, and go beyond the media hype,” he said.

Looking around the booth, accessible certainly seemed the right word for their technology, as the EinScan-Pro+ was in use regularly in live demonstration. For its part, the EinStart-C is a plug-and-play desktop 3D printer that’s ready to create anything you might want — including a small army of adorable pandas, or perhaps every animal in the Chinese zodiac, both abundantly present around the booth in nicely 3D printed detail.

“The reception here at CES has been very good,” Meza said with a smile about the new products. “We’ve received a few inquiries, talked to many potential customers, and on the first day of the show people came specifically to see our new products. Our name has become well-known for both 3D scanning and 3D printing, which makes it easier to establish communication when we have new products.”

Desktop 3D printers can make some large creations, like my new best friend, which also stands around six feet tall.

Further in getting the Shining 3D name out into the world is the company’s literal step into the world, as they focus on international expansion. Having established a new headquarters in China as well as a presence in Japan last year, the company is now looking West. Now with a new office in Germany serving as the company’s EMEA headquarters, Shining 3D is additionally planning to establish a similar office in the US later this year. Though decisions have not yet been finalized, the US office is likely to be located in the Bay Area, which Meza notes as a “great area to be” with users and consumers of technology so close, along with many other 3D printing companies in the area, leading to a stronger community of trained people in a tech haven. The company currently works with more than 80 distributors around the world — with the 3D scanners used in the US, Europe, India, the Asia/Pacific region, and other areas overseas from China — and the new offices will allow for stronger and faster support for customers, in their local languages. They note that of course there are still additional opportunities for resellers around the world.

“We are not only offering desktop, but also industrial capabilities; because this is the consumer electronics show we brought the consumer products here,” Xie stated, adding to the company’s breadth of experience and participation.

Shining 3D is one company we cover frequently here at 3DPrint.com, and from their presence and popularity at CES, as well as their regular introductions of new, accessible 3D technologies, it looks like they will remain a name to watch in this industry. Discuss in the Shining 3D forum at 3DPB.com.