Make your prints truly unique. As from today we are offering Color on Demand to all our users. With Color on Demand you can request a RAL reference which will be matched in PLA by colorFabb’s team. With an MOQ of 2kg, the threshold is lower than ever for 3D printing users to create with their very own color!
The idea of Color on Demand goes back to the essence of why colorFabb was started. Back in 2012 founder and current CEO Ruud Rouleaux had the idea to produce a filament tailor-made for the end user. He says, “Back in the early days producing custom colors presented us with high additional costs and inefficient production issues, eventually leading to a more general portfolio of standard colors.”
Color on Demand, six years in the making, is finally seeing its release now. With the slogan “We make colors happen” colorFabb goes back to its roots as a color specialist.
This ever expanding portfolio of materials and colors have served both colorFabb and its vast number of users very well, but colorFabb received regularly questions about certain custom-made colors. A feasible way to produce was to require an MOQ of 30 or 50kg per color. Not only does the average user not need these quantities, the costs involved would be quite high.
With Color on Demand, we meet that very need by implementing an innovative production method to produce 3D printing filaments. This new production method not only allows more flexibility to produce a great, unlimited amount of colors, but is so efficient that even very small amounts of filament can be produced efficiently at no higher costs compared to ordinary filaments. Color on Demand initially starts with the material most popular in the market right now: PLA.
“3D printing has been maturing rapidly in the past two years,” says Ruud Rouleaux, “and as colorFabb we need to meet our customers needs by adapting to the ever changing market. Back in early 2013, when we started, not a lot of colors were available, so we made quite a splash by coming to the market with first 25 and later 30 colors.” With Color on Demand, the potential colors on offer can be in the thousands.
Of course, producing and warehousing thousands of colors in two diameters is not a realistic scenario. After a full year of intensive testing, colorFabb is confident it can bring a new solution to its customers by producing filament to order. As a proof of concept over sixty RAL references have already been matched and can be ordered straight away.
In the past few weeks we have been sending out some trial orders. For instance, 3D designer Todd Olsen contacted since he was looking for a specific beige color in PLA. As it happened, this was one of the colors we just matched and we could accomodate this request right away:
Todd said about his Color on Demand experience (actually, the very first we shipped!): “When I needed a filament to print a scan of my friend, colorFabb’s ‘Color on Demand’ was there to assist me with getting the color filament that matched my friend’s skin tone. Awesome quality, with great customer service!”
How does it work?
A special section has been created in our webshop. You can go there directly by clicking here. The colors that have been matched already can be seen immediately (examples as shown above) and you can order these like any other product in our webshop. The catch? We don’t stock it. All products in Color on Demand are made to order.
If a color has not been matched by us already, you can choose a RAL color (click here) or request a custom color (click here).
This is you: choosing the right color
The team of specialists at colorFabb then go to work to start matching this color request. You can opt to receive an injected molded plaque to verify the color first, before the spool is produced. This is optional.
Expected lead times are:
- Color already matched: 5 – 8 business days
- Color not yet matched: 2 – 3 weeks
All Color on Demand spools are produced on XL spools, containing 2kg of filament in your prefered color. It does not stop there. At the same time Color on Demand is being offered for granulates as an extra supply option besides filament.
Important: If you order a Color on Demand spool, as well as regular stocked products, we will ship these together as one shipment.
How is color matching being done?
Check our disclaimer! We use the RAL Classic references as our guide. All filaments produced are optically checked by our specialized production and QA team. You can order an injected molded plaque before commiting to order a full spool. Please check in the webshop!
Please be aware that we use the actual RAL reference. Colors on a computer screen, printed images and promotional art can give a misrepresentation of the actual color. Injection molded color plaques can be ordered for a quality check before ordering a full spool.
If the color is then accepted production is started on the custom made spool, which is a single spool containing 2kg (MOQ) of PLA in either 1.75mm or 2.85mm – or more spools, of course. Whenever a color has been matched, it will be added to the colorFabb website for future references.
It does not stop there. At the same time Color on Demand is being offered for granulates as an extra supply option besides filament.
Pricing is as low as € 75 (ex VAT / shipping) for a 2kg spool of custom made filament, with tier pricing available: 10% discount when 4 spools are purchased, 20% when 10 spools are purchased.
Color on Demand is a first new step into the direction of customization of filaments for the end users. Starting with PLA and RAL, the possibilities to expand to other materials and color references are plenty and will be implemented at a later stage.
Basically, color on demand will enable the maker / 3D Printer user to pinpoint specific projects and claim a different position in the supply chain with exactly that color that is requested.
Color on Demand is now live. Users can send your requests to colorFabb or visit our website:
Questions? First check the FAQ section we made. Or contact us through sales@colorfabb.com
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