As 3D printing has made more than a splash in the tech market, many have been curious to see how the big guns of the industry would approach the new opportunities obviously emerging in the marketplace. Apple, typically quiet, has allowed for some murmurings that they may be working on some things, while Microsoft has grasped on to 3D printing in their usual straightforward style, without too much glitz and glamour, but integrating it into still impressive and wholly utilitarian platforms for their users–who are truly users.
We’ve been following their entry into the market as it has been picking up steam, from launching the 3MF Consortium, of which netfabb is also a member, to offering a 3D file repair service, paving the way for streamlining processes in the making community with Microsoft 3D Printing–powered by netfabb.
With a good history of partnership already behind them, the relationship is further solidified with their most recent announcement that both Microsoft and netfabb will be working together further to service their customer base in the cloud.
Intended for commercial users, netfabb will take control of marketing efforts while Microsoft will partner in operating the back end of their platform. Netfabb is actually a part of FIT AG (headquartered in Lupburg, Germany), which has specialized in 3D printing, related software, prototyping, and more since 1995. For this cloud platform with Microsoft, the netfabb team will also be providing software, which is based on netfabb Professional 6.0 and they will be again be working with Microsoft in providing 3D file repair. Users can look for this to be extended though as other functions will be offered, to include:
- Wall thickness detection
- Buildability checks
- Offline rendering options
“Providing easy low cost access to essential 3D printing tools to the world has been netfabb’s mission since it was founded. Moving towards offering the wide functionality of our 3D printing software on a cloud is just the logical next step. Microsoft Azure has provided us an ideal platform to achieve this in a fast, scalable and stable way,” says Alexander Oster, CEO of netfabb.
For over a year now, netfabb and Microsoft have offered the cloud-based file repair service which was a platform designed for those engaged in noncommercial uses. In that time, ‘Microsoft 3D Printing – powered by netfabb’ has become the most widely used program for 3D printed cloud services. According to netfabb statistics, the service provides for more than 60,000 users, processes over 4,000 files per day, and since May 2014, users have submitted 1.2 million files.
Discuss your thoughts on this partnership that continues to grow and thrive between these two entities in the tech and 3D printing industry in Microsoft and netfabb 3D Printing Cloud Services forum thread over at 3DPB.com.
