Friends,
As you may know, I have struggled with how best to respond to the advent of 3D printing for some time now. Well, I have finally decided how to respond to it. If you’re interested, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the matter.
First, I want to make this very clear: I love some of the things I see coming from the 3D printing guys! The detail is absolutely wonderful. It is far beyond anything I can do in resin, that’s for sure. In fact, I’ve been so impressed, I bought a few things for my 1/.48 aircraft interest, and the detail didn’t disappoint. The only problem seems to be that I am not a good enough modeler to use it.
What do I mean by that? Well, I broke most of what I bought trying to get it off the runners. Now, before you start offering suggestions for how to do it properly, I’d like you to know I looked into it. I know it depends on how the print was set up, and whether or not I have the right tools and a host of other things. But how do I know if an item was printed properly, or if it will require yet another specialized and expensive tool? The 3D printing is not cheap, you know. And I don’t want to waste money buying things I can’t use. And then there is the rel possibility that I am a dinosaur who no longer has the skills to keep up with advancing technology.
For a long time, I struggled with what this means for me and TMD, and how I should respond. I know I do not want to make a move to mastering on a computer screen. If I wanted to do that, I’d work for industry where I could actually get paid close to the value of the time I have to put into my work. And, while I love the fidelity of detail in some aspects of 3D printing, I do not like the look if the products in others. And, yes, I am also a Luddite who simply does not want to adapt to this ‘modern’ world. So I have decided to just keep making horse whips in a horseless carriage world. Here’s how I plan to do this and stay in business at the same time.
First, as I have already started doing, I am going to update my existing product line by improving the existing detail; adding details that were missing from the original masters; and by improving the engineering in the molding and casting gates so the parts are easier to use. Then, I am going to crank out as many products as I can, to fill the holes that have been left in our current product line. Finally, I will focus on those areas where 3D printing isn’t likely to go any time soon.
That’s how I plan to deal with my products, but I have yet another idea. Modeling is starting to get expensive, and the new 3D printing doesn’t seem to be providing any relief in that area. However, I can make some of the most popular, most used items in my line a little more affordable. So, as I re-master these items — the ones you use every time you build that kit — I will drop the prices back to what they were before COVID. In some cases, I may have to nudge the price of a few items up, to account for the added details and number of parts, but — for the most part — I am going to take advantage of my strengths and use it to keep your cost as close to ‘wholesale’ as I can. I just hope you guys will respond by using TMD products whenever you can.
I also plan to double-down on my efforts to provide better quality control and customer service. I’ll be replacing molds more often, updating the web store, adding those long-promised instruction sheets and more.
Finally, I am going to look at advertising TMD. I haven’t done this for a long time, and a great many guys still think I’m closed. I’ll work to change that. I have a few ideas and I’ll share them as I get to them, but I am going to start exploiting social media a lot more than I have been. Maybe I’ll get TMD’s ‘X’ (I still prefer Twitter) page going? I’ll also try to think of a way I can reward any of you who want to help me find new customers? Again, I’ll share the details as I nail them down.
So, there you have it: my thoughts on 3D printing and my plan for how to stay relevant. Yes, I am choosing to be a buggy whip company in a horseless carriage world. But, hey! They are still making horsewhips today, so maybe I can be one of those companies that manages to survive while continuing to do things ‘old school.’ And, if it doesn’t work… Well, I figure I’ll have at least 2 years to find something else to do while I work to sell off everything TMD has acquired over the last 25 years. Either way, I’m at peace with whatever happens. 🙂
Stay safe and God bless,
Joe