The community's shared printing capacity
One side has idle machine hours, the other is waiting for a part. Here the two meet over a job, with a file, a quote and a deadline.
Co-Factory brings together those who have machines and those who have work for them. A provider publishes a service, a client uploads a file for a specific job, and then come the quote, the acceptance, the states and a conversation on the job itself.
100% freeServices with an image
A provider publishes what they can make, with an image and a page of its own. Not a note on a board, but a service with a profile behind it.
A job with the file attached
A client creates a job and uploads the model to it. The file lives on the job, not in an email thread forwarded fifteen times.
Quote and acceptance
The provider quotes on the job and the client accepts. When it happened and at what price stays recorded.
Job states
A job moves through states, so both sides can see how far it has got without having to ask.
A conversation on the job
Messages live on the job itself, with an unread counter. No conversation running in two places at once.
A provider profile
Every provider has a profile and an account status, so it is clear who you are working with.
Ready to try it?
One account opens the free EduFacturing tools and platforms, and everything runs in the browser.
Why capacity sits idle
A printer runs a few hours a day if its owner has no steady stream of orders. The rest of the time the machine waits. Meanwhile somebody two streets away waits a week for a part, because their only machine is busy.
Co-Factory makes that gap visible. A provider publishes what they can make, a client uploads a file and asks. Idle hours on one side meet waiting work on the other.
The same holds for a large batch. A hundred parts on one machine take days. Split across several machines they take hours, and none of those machines has stopped its own work for one order.
How a job runs
A job with the file attached. The client describes what they want and uploads the model to the job itself, so every later step sits on the same file.
Quote and acceptance. The provider offers a price and the client accepts. Both sides hold a record of what was agreed.
States and conversation. The job moves between states, and messages stay with it, with an unread counter. When something has to be clarified, it is clarified where the file and the quote already are.
What to know before you take work on
Time estimates. The same part behaves differently on a different machine and in a different orientation. For a guide on weight and time, the ordering tool measures the model in the browser and returns the figures.
Cost. Material, electricity, machine wear and labour add up to a price that has to leave a margin. PrintERP calculates exactly that and proposes a price.
Material and settings. A share of rejects come from a material that was never right for the application. The Material Selector ranks materials by application and by the property that matters most.
Questions people ask
What is Co-Factory?
A place where providers with machines and clients with work find each other: a service with an image, a job with a file attached, a quote, acceptance, states and a conversation on the job.
How do I outsource a 3D print?
You create a job, upload the model to it and receive a quote. After accepting you follow the status and talk to the provider inside the job.
Can I offer my own machines?
Yes. You publish a service with an image and create a provider profile, and jobs start reaching you.
Where does the order file live?
On the job itself, together with the quote and the messages, so nothing has to be hunted for in email.
How do I track where an order has got to?
The job moves through states visible to both sides, and the messages on it carry an unread counter.
What is the difference from Co-Market?
Co-Market sells files. Co-Factory is about making: the result there is a printed part, not a download.
How do I get access?
Access to the platform is free with an account. Prices on jobs are agreed between the client and the provider.