The third largest exporter to the United States is none other than Germany. Trailing China and Japan, Germany is responsible for just over 5% of total US imports. When I think of imported goods from Germany, I immediately picture automobiles, namely Mercedes and BMW, and in fact there is good reason for that. Vehicles are the number one imported item from the European nation, representing $33.8 billion in 2014 alone. What’s the second most imported item from Germany though? If you guessed machinery then you would be correct. Last year, the US imported over $24 billion in machinery/engines/pumps from Germany.
Today we got word that this number may inch up ever so slightly, as German Reprap has announced a distribution deal with Florida-based 3DChimera. German RepRap GmbH, located in Feldkirchen, Germany, has been growing steadily since their launch back in 2010. Currently they are among the leading 3D printer distributors in Europe, but wish to scale their operations outside of the continent.
3DChimera will be the company’s first US value added authorized reseller in a drive by the company to cater to more American 3D printing enthusiasts.
“We already have a number of customers there [the US] that have received our products from Germany. With 3DChimera, our existing and prospective customers now have a local contact as well. We are confident this will further increase our market share for 3D printers”, said Florian Bautz, managing director of German RepRap.
3DChimera, located in Miami, Florida, is already an authorized distributor of Mcor Technologies’ machines, as well as several other 3D printers, scanners, software and accessories. They will now be selling the full line of German RepRap 3D Printers in the US. These include the large format industrial FFF printers, the X400 (build envelope of of 15.7” x 15.7” x 13.8”) and X1000 (build envelope of 39.3” x 31.5” x 23.6”) as well as the consumer-targeted Protos and Neo models.
“The 3D-printers by German RepRap impressed us with their excellent price-performance ratio and their quality ‘Made in Germany’ construction,” said Founder and CEO of 3DChimera, Walter Puls.
This deal is an important one for both companies, expanding the reach of German Reprap outside of Europe, while providing 3DChimera additional machines to add to their offerings. It will be interesting to watch as both companies continue their growth and branch out in all directions. Let’s hear your thoughts on this partnership in the ‘German RepRap Coming to US’ forum thread on 3DPB.com.
