Company Profile: RP Marketplace

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Bring couples together and you're a matchmaker, connect buyers and sellers of services and you're a marketplace.

RP Marketplace aims to push the marketplace concept a bit further with its free online ecommerce platform that brings buyers and sellers of commercial 3D printing and additive manufacturing services together to work on rapid prototyping jobs. Unlike competitive sites, which simply deliver a directory of rapid prototyping service providers, RP Marketplace serves up a roster of suppliers in addition to capabilities for transacting and managing projects, including the ability to post jobs, solicit bids, fund milestones, and manage projects all from a single, browser-based platform.

RP Marketplace's Project Workshop view lets Buyers and Suppliers manage messages and files in addition to tracking and funding release milestones. Image Courtesy of RP Marketplace

The genesis for RP Marketplace came when Founder Steven Jaffe realized that many small and mid-sized manufacturers were not readily taking advantage of rapid prototyping services simply because there was no easy way to find suppliers, let alone compare them based on services offered or costs. “I realized you could do a Google search and find 50 suppliers, but you've no idea about what they did or how they would quote a job,” Jaffe said. “There had to be an easier way to solicit bids and quotes rather than having buyers individually source from random places that they don't know anything about.”

A rapid prototyping marketplace with added functionality was also timely, Jaffe said, because so many manufacturers, faced with time-to-market pressures, are moving quickly into production, thus would benefit from a forum where they could easily and quickly engage with their rapid prototyping service provider. “We built the platform to facilitate and help companies get involved with their suppliers to get pre-tooling ready products built quickly and securely,” Jaffe said.

Manufacturers looking for rapid prototyping services can log onto RP Marketplace and post their projects in a secure forum that keeps information confidential via file access management tools and built-in NDAs. Suppliers (there are currently 42 professional suppliers affiliated with the site) will bid on the project, and RP Marketplace provides an array of education tools that can help buyers sort through the bids to make fair comparisons, Jaffe said.

Suppliers pay a fee of 7.5% for the service, which is automatically calculated into their bids, but the service is free to buyers submitting request for quotes.

Rogue Engineering has streamlined its rapid prototyping process used in the design of BMW aftermarket products by interacting with suppliers on RP Marketplace. Courtesy of Rogue Engineering

When the bids are in, buyers can review the offers and examine detailed profiles of each supplier thanks a rating system modeled on the one found on eBay. “The old school is word of mouth, this is based on peer experiences to instill purchase confidence,” he explained. Buyers can reject suppliers' bids, and suppliers can rebid and lower their prices, which aids in keeping project costs in check.

Once a buyer finds a bid to their liking, RP Marketplace automatically notifies the supplier and secures payment in escrow so both parties are protected. Buyers and suppliers work together to set up milestone payments for various stages of the project as it unfolds.

Jaffe said the process is a win-win for both buyers and suppliers. “For buyers, it costs nothing to use the service and they have the security and confidence that they're not funding a project before they get the goods,” he explained. They also get access to an array of companies they might not otherwise find, which reduces risk, he added. From a supplier's standpoint, RP Marketplace provides exposure to projects that would otherwise fall off their radar screen while also providing a forum that ensures fast and secure payment.

For Ben Liaw, president of Rogue Engineering, a manufacturer of BMW performance aftermarket parts, RP Marketplace has facilitated the company's use of rapid prototyping services, which is essential to its design process for transforming 3D drawings into samples and then into production pieces. The ability to enlist multiple players to bid on projects coupled with the site's functionality for engaging and working with suppliers during the actual project stage, has saved Rogue Engineering both time and money, Liaw said.

“The 3D printing world is growing so rapidly, it's hard to determine which is the right 3D print services required,” he explained. “Contacting a large 3D printer with a small job is just as frustrating as contacting a very small 3D printing company with a large project. RP Marketplace allows the right size 3D printer to select my job.”

Check out this video to see exactly how RP Marketplace works.