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How Nakkara Created a 3D Printing Business with Kaedim

“A critical step in Nakkara’s manufacturing process is turning the customer’s image into a CAD model; the business isn’t viable if the model has to be created manually... Kaedim enabled my business.”

About Karl Lautman, Founder of Nakkara.ai

Karl has worked in the Silicon Valley tech industry since 1979. He worked at Intel and smaller companies before turning into an independent marketing consultant.

He retired in 2000, but has gained interest in a number of opportunities presented by AI.

His company, Nakkara, allows people to upload images that can then be turned in 3D printed, physical objects.

Project Overview

Nakkara allows people to upload images and have them turned into 3D printed, physical objects. Turning that imagery into a physical object, quickly and economically, will significantly increase the efficiency of anyone needing to design something.

“I view Nakkara as a very slow replicator from Star Trek.”

Mission & Goals

Nakkara is currently a classic MVP (Minimum Viable Product) whose purpose is to gather feedback from customers about how it should evolve. Karl’s vision is to evolve in response to market demands, ultimately expanding Nakkara’s offerings to further add value for his customers.

In the longer term, Karl plans on printing colored 3D models with a multi-material printer, as well as materials with different hardnesses in different parts of the object. Simple functional mechanisms (e.g. a bottle with a screwtop) could also be provided.

Challenges

A critical step in Nakkara’s manufacturing process is turning the customer’s image into a CAD model; the business isn’t viable if the model has to be created manually. I wondered if a tool already existed to perform the conversion, at least semi-automatically.

Solutions

“I take the image the customer supplies, upload it to Kaedim, and download the model. The customer is encouraged to supply up to three different views, but only one is required.”

With an easy and intuitive process, Kaedim enabled Karl to provide 3D prints to people all over the world, and all they need is to send him one image.

“Once I receive the model from Kaedim, I prepare it for 3D printing, which mostly involves adding supports (still a mostly manual process). Then it gets printed and processed like any other 3D print.”

Kaedim's Impact

Karl is now able to take images, turn them into CAD models, and print them for his customers. This new streamlined process has given him the ability to not only start his business, but has also given him potential to scale in the future.

“[Kaedim’s integration into my project workflow has] been pretty seamless. As my volume increases, I expect to make extensive use of Kaedim’s API, making it even more seamless.”

New 3D asset production pipeline

2D Input Image

Nakkara receives input images from their customers that they then upload to Kaedim.

AI Modeling with Kaedim

Nakkara then generates a digital 3D model with Kaedim using the provided image.

Final Printed 3D Model

Nakkara is then able to print the 3D model and deliver the final product to their customers.

Why choose Kaedim?

Seamless integration: Kaedim’s simple and intuitive process allows for seamless integration with already existing workflows.
Accessibility: Kaedim does not require 3D experience, creating an accessible tool that brings 3D creation to anyone from a small business to a large enterprise.
Time and money saved: With Kaedim, Nakkara was not only able to realize their business goals within their budget, they were also able to save hours of manual modeling time.

Learn more about Nakkara.ai:

nakkara.ai