UPS Makes 3-D Printers Available in Nearly 100 Stores Nationwide The shipping giant launched a pilot program a year ago where it put six printers in select UPS stores. Now, the program is expanding.
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
From Alabama to Hawaii to Idaho, 3-D printers are gearing up to become what fax machines were in the "80s.
The UPS Store launched a pilot program in the summer of 2013 where it put six 3-D printers in franchise stores in select cities across the country. The program was such a success that the shipping giant is expanding the program more than 15 times over. Soon, there will be 3-D printing machines available in nearly 100 UPS Stores across the U.S., according to a statement released from the company today.
Related: How This 3-D Printing Startup Is Pushing the Boundaries of the Retail Experience
The printers, called Stratasys uPrint SE Plus, are a level above home desktop versions, giving BIZ Experiencess, inventors, artists and small-business owners access to fast, reliable 3-D printers in their neighborhood.
There are more than 4,400 UPS Stores across the U.S., so the expansion of the pilot program still leaves the majority of franchises sans 3-D printer. To find out whether the UPS Store in your area will have a 3-D printer, you can check here.
Related: Customized Ecommerce Meets 3-D Printing in Amazon's New Online Store
The popularity of the UPS Store 3-D printing program is in line with the explosive popularity of the 3-D printing industry overall in recent years. Additive manufacturing, the more technical name for 3-D printing, is a $3 billion industry, according to the most current version of an annual report on the industry published by consulting firm Wohlers Associates, Inc. Over the past three years, the 3-D printing industry has been growing at more than 30 percent per year, according to research from Wohlers Associates.
