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INFOSYS.110 BUSINESS SYSTEMS:

DELIVERABLE 2: BUSINESS SECTION
2014

Name Sam Lynch
NetID Slyn309
Group Number: 172
Website Link: http://infosys110group172.blogspot.co.nz/
Tutorial Details
Tutor: Day: Time:
Mira Lee Tuesday 2:00 pm
Time Spent on
Assignment:
12 hours Word Count: 1500

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THE FUTURE OF 3D PRINTABLE DESIGNS
INTRODUCTION
3D printers today to most people are an expensive and impractical use of money. However Freedonia, a renowned research group, believe
The demand for 3D printers and software will grow 21% a year through 2017, at which point it will be a $5 billion dollar industry (Freedonia,
2013). It is because of this forecast, and the lack of current infrastructure, that I intend to deal with the problem of the lack of viable networks
of distribution of 3D design by creating a business that will run an online market place where 3D designs are bought and sold.
3. BUSINESS SECTION
3.1 Vision
To provide an online market place which aggregates 3D designs and sells them at affordable prices while providing commission for its
Designer.
3.2 Industry Analysis: Marketplace for 3D Designs
Industry: Printable 3D Designs.


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Force: High/Low: Justification:
Buyer power: Low There are two Main competitors in the industry
Thingiverse and Shapeways. Thingiverse is a site
that is free but is designed for a particular brand
of printer (makerbot) and has limited search
abilities. Shapeways is an online market place
with buyers and sellers though they print and
deliver the product for you. Due to the limited
number of sites and their caveats Buyers do not
have much choice.
Supplier power: High Buyers have few choices when looking for designs
and Fewer when looking for a site to host and sell
their own designs.
Threat of new entrants: High Creating and hosting a website is relatively cheap
and painless. Web admins are plentiful as well as
server rental being affordable depending on

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desired capacity and load.
Threat of substitutes: Low There are few substitutes to a 3D design market
place when looking for designs. The major
substitute is looking to purchase what you would
have printed or to design it yourself for solely
personal use.
Rivalry among existing
competitors:
Low The Research Done By Fredonia states that there
is little competition in the Current marketplace
due to the limited adoption of 3D printers and
the lack of overlap caused by limitations imposed
by the major sites.
Overall attractiveness of the industry: The Industry attractive as it is still young and the adoption of 3D Printers at the moment is slow.
However the research done by Freedonia(2013) States that the 3D printer industry is soon to experience huge levels of growth, which they
believe will create a gap in the 3D design marketplace which I hope to fill by creating and establishing my Site before the growth, in an
attempt to capture the first mover advantage, for a more inclusive site with market place functions to capture a large market share in the
industry.

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3.3 Customers and Thei r Needs
My Primary set of customers is those who own a 3D printer and are looking for designs to print off. This customer has relatively simple needs,
they will need; ability to search and find designs they desire. To be able to tell if the design is compatible with their 3D printer and its printable
dimensions. Finally they will need the ability to customise facets of the design. The need for the ability to customise the product may not seem
that important but the Harvard Business review recognize that the implication that 3D printed goods will be infinitely more customisable is
what is pulling consumers away from traditional manufacturing to 3D printing (D`Aveni,2013). The second customer who I must be mindful of
is consumers who are considering buying a 3D printer. For these customers I must show that there is valid infrastructure in place to serve their
post purchase needs.
3.4 The Product and Service
To meet these aforementioned needs the online marketplace, will need the following things; A strong system of indexing and categorising
designs in order to make sure searching is streamlined and easy, a feature other sites lack. Clear and prominent display of design specifications
so that users can check compatibility. As well as the ability to customise colour and scale of size to meet desired needs. If all these are meet it
will also show potential customers that there is infrastructure to support 3d printing.
3.5 Suppliers and Partners
My biggest supplier is the designers whose work is uploaded and sold. They are paid on a commission basis and the biggest concern around
them is to ensure repeat business. This can be achieved by ensuring an easy access and usage of the site by making their interactions with it as

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streamlined as possible. My other suppliers include the sites Internet service provider, the Company the domain is registered with and the
rental of servers to run the site off.
3.6 Strategy: Cost Leadership
As 3D printers become more prevalent the 3D design industry will become more crowded. This combined with the belief that once 3D printers
become popular revenue streams will shift to companies that produce the filament and to designers (Cohen, Sargent, and Somers. 2014)
means that it is imperative to gain market share early before the market is flooded. To do this I believe it is necessary to adopt a cost
leadership strategy which is both low cost and targets a broad market. The low cost factor will help combat consumers hunting for free
alternates, while the broad market approach will help draw a larger range of users.
The overall strategy is therefore Cost Leadership.
3.7 Value Chain Activity: Market and sell the product
The most important value chain activity for this business is, Market and sell the product.
As my site is an online market place, marketing and selling the product is crucial to my success. Firstly marketing peoples designs they have
submitted is important as I must make sure they are seen by consumers. While selling is crucial not just because it is my own source of income
but it is the income the designers earn which is also important and is what will keep the designers uploading new designs.
3.8 Business Processes

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3.8.1. DI SPLAYING THE PRODUCT PROCESS This is concerned with making sure the designs are seen by customers. This is achived by ensuring
the design is indexed and categorised correctly. When done correctly the design should be able to be easily found by any interested
consumers. This process is crucial as it will help the customer find designs which can ultimately lead to purchases.


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3.8.2. SALES PROCESS This process is concerned with the sale of the actual design. It follows consumers from the search for a product to the
choice and decision then to the point of sale where funds are received and divided between the site and the designer. This process is
important to the value chain as it involves both the receiving of income and the payment to designers, which is what will inevitably keep
designers coming back with new designs to sell.

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3.9 Functionalities
3.9.1. DI SPLAY OF PRODUCT PROCESS
Categorising and indexing of design
Storing of information in a database
3.9.2. SALES PROCESS
Distribution of funds between designer and the site
Assign download of the design from database to customer.
3.10 Systems

3.10. 1. ORDER PROCSESSI NG SYSTEM This is used to process orders or in my case purchases of designs. It records what design was purchased
and who by. The function supported by this process would be assigning of downloads as the system processes then fulfils the order by giving
the consumer the purchased design to download.
3.10. 2. ACCOUNTS PAYABLE SYSTEM This system keeps track of the accounts payable namely people who we owe money too. The system
supports the function of distribution of funds. This is because designers who are owed money from sales of their design will be in the
companys accounts payable and this system manages these debts and their payment.
3.10. 2. DATABASE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM This system manages the operation and usage of the business Databases. It supports the functions
of categorising and indexing of data as well as the storing of information in a database. This system is also important to decision making as it

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tells the company if it needs to invest in more databases for storage or reduce existing levels. This can be beneficial when trying to cut costs in
the business
3.11. Summary Table: Value Chain to Systems

Value Chain
Activity
Processes Functionalities Specific Information
System(s)
Broad Information
System(s)

Marketing
and selling
the Product
Displaying
the
product
process
1. Categorising and indexing of design
2. Storing of information in a database

Database management
systems.
Decision support systems.

Inventory management
systems
Transaction
process
1. Distribution of funds between designer
and the site
2. Assign download of the design from
database to customer.

Order Processing system


Accounts payable system
Transaction processing
system

Executive information
system

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CONCLUSION
In Conclusion the 3D printer industry though infantile currently, shows great potential for
growth and with that growth there will be a shortage of available designs. With the
implementation of the processes functions and systems outline my site would be a valid
solution to the problem and likely a profitable endeavour worth pursuing.

REFERENCES

Cohen D, Sargeant M, Somers K. 3-D printing takes shape. Mckinsey Quarterly
[serial online]. March 2014;(1):40-45. Available from: Business Source Premier,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 24, 2014.
D'Aveni R. 3-D PRINTING WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. Harvard Business Review
[serial online]. March 2013;91(3):34. Available from: Business Source Premier,
Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 24, 2014.
Docksai, R. (2014). 3-D Printing Keeps Growing. Futurist, 48(3), 11-14.
Makerbot (2014). Thingiverse. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from
http://www.thingiverse.com
Shapeways (2013). Shapeways. Retrieved May 23, 2014, from
http://www.shapeways.com/