3D Systems Partners With ScanSource to Expand Their Distribution Footprint

One sure sign that the 3D printing market is heating up, is the fact that new major distributors are seemingly jumping on board, almost on a daily basis. Whenever a new market begins to emerge, resellers and distributors need to carefully calculate when the right time is to get involved. If they jump the gun, and enter the market too early, money and time could be wasted, as warehouse space and company resources are drained. On the other hand, if they wait too long, major opportunities may be missed, as competing suppliers in the market will quickly absorb demand.

The 3D printing market certainly looks like its ready to take off in a big way. Today ScanSource Inc. (Nasdaq:SCSC), a major wholesale distributor of technology products worldwide, with a market cap exceeding $1 billion, announced a partnership with the world’s leading 3D printer manufacturer, 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD). With the partnership, ScanSource will begin offering a range of 3D Systems’ products to its clients, first in America, and then the rest of the world.

“ScanSource has been evaluating the 3D market for quite some time. As the technology and solutions become attractive to a broader end-user customer base and a reseller channel begins to develop, we found the timing to be right and the market to be ready for value-added distribution,” said Mike Baur, CEO, ScanSource, Inc. “As with all of our business offerings, the products and associated services must be a fit with our business model in that the solution needs the value-added services and support that resellers rely on from ScanSource. We look forward to delivering 3D printing solutions to our resellers and are excited to have 3D Systems as a partner, as they are a leader in the market.”

3D Systems has been partnering with several big name distributors over the past year, as they try and expand their footprint, as well as their global distribution network.

“We are thrilled to partner with a distributor of the caliber, size and demonstrated performance of ScanSource,” said Avi Reichental, president and CEO, 3D Systems. “ScanSource brings scalable field coverage together with a unique model of training expertise and experienced field resources that support its growing reseller network, substantially expanding our addressable markets and access to new use cases.”

As competition heats up within the 3D printing space, it will be important for the leaders within the industry to make their products available to the most people possible. Both 3D Systems and ScanSources’ stocks are trading up in early trading this morning. Discuss this distribution agreement at the 3DPB.com forum thread created for this story.