Archive — This feature presents 2019 interviews with LEO Lane, Identify3D and DigiFabster. Roles, offerings and figures refer to that period.
Software as a Service (SaaS) provides access to applications hosted by a provider. For an additive manufacturing business, its value depends on the functions offered, integration with the workflow and the terms governing data. How can a company choose a suitable service?
We have discussed this dossier with LEO Lane, Identify3D and DigiFabster.
Simply put, LEO Lane controls, protects, and tracks additively manufactured products files.
Identify3D provides its customers with software solutions that address their security, IP, quality, authenticity, and traceability needs.
In its explanation for this feature, DigiFabster describes software that automates part of a sales engineer’s quoting work. The initial estimate uses calculation rules; detailed engineering work then refines production conditions and costs.
Let’s start from the very beginning. A SaaS solution is an application/a software distribution model in which a third-party provider hosts some applications and makes them available to customers over the Internet.
A 2019 BetterCloud report cites an average of 16 SaaS applications in 2017, up 33% over the preceding year. It also reports that 73% of surveyed organisations expected nearly all their applications to be SaaS by 2020. This was a historical forecast, not a current or AM-specific measurement.
Selection must begin with a defined need: an online application will not necessarily suit every company’s constraints.
CAD, simulation, workflow management and intellectual-property protection describe functions. SaaS describes how software is supplied. Distinguishing the two dimensions helps compare offerings that meet the same need.
Secondly, to achieve an appropriate match between a company’s need and a SaaS solution, there are usually four measurable aspects users take into account: availability, reliability, scalability, and security.
How do experts see these measurable aspects?
In order to find the “flavour” that is appropriate for a particular company, Lee-Bath Nelson, Co-founder and VP Business at LEO Lane gives an interesting view on the benefits of SaaS solutions in general and the features to consider in the AM industry:
“In general, the main advantages of SaaS solutions that everybody knows include: the fact that there is no need to install anything, the flexibility of the solution, the fact that the software is always up-to-date and can be updated without disrupting the company’s work.
In Additive Manufacturing (AM), SaaS has special advantages where the knowledge and the ecosystem is so fragmented. Throughout the workflow, there can be many contributors and one important advantage is that none of them has to install anything to use the software and they can all be sure they’re using the same, compatible version of the (SaaS) solution.
With regards to the different features a company should consider before choosing a SaaS solution, there are two key issues all companies have to check. The first is to check that the chosen software solution is compatible with their corporate policies and procedures, and make sure that these policies are not disrupted by the chosen software. Secondly, check that the selected software solution can integrate easily and quickly with all the existing software in the company.
Those are two key issues and, for service providers (3D printing service bureaus), I would add that it’s important to consider their customers’ corporate policies as well. One of the best examples of a corporate policy to consider when it comes to SaaS is how the solution handles files. Companies have many corporate policies around files (back-up, redundancy, security, etc.) so they often don’t mind SaaS software but they don’t want their 3D printable files to be saved in the vendor’s cloud.”
Support responsiveness and service availability are different measures. In this interview, DigiFabster CPO Peter van der Zouwen advised checking how a supplier prepares for incidents. He reported a median first response time of four minutes, tracked by Intercom, and an average of three user-suggested improvements per week. These figures reported in 2019 are not a current service-level commitment.
Joe Inkenbrandt, CEO of Identify3D shares an insight into what their customers expect from a SaaS solution provider and this can be summarized into three words: security, repeatability and traceability. Obviously, expectations vary from one customer to another, and are influenced by a specific AM technology. Taking the example of 3D printing service bureaus, the co-founder of Identify3D explains that:
“customers worry about their IP. That’s why, they want to make sure that their digital supply chain is secured throughout the entire process. As far as repeatability is concerned, they want to make sure on the way we manufacture their product using a 3D printer. Two years from now for instance, if somebody else attempts to print it, he should be able to make it exactly the same way that it was made before, with the same quality. As for traceability, we should be able to record and account everything that was manufactured on-demand.”
Manufacturing repeatability also requires control of the process, material and inspection; it does not follow from software selection alone.
Security discussions should cover access, encryption, separation between customers, backups and recovery. Data location, subcontractors and export options also need documentation. A data centre in one country does not establish where every processing operation or access takes place.
Issues and critical applications
Although one might think that SaaS providers share the same issues and concerns in their journey, they do not. This can be understandable since there are various types of SaaS solutions. Participants in this dossier share different issues they might face when providing their clients with their services.
Let’s start by DigiFabster. To better explain their challenges, Peter van der Zouwen first describes their services:
“Our goal is to increase our customers’ turnover and lower their sales overhead. We’re not involved in, for example, optimizing scanning strategies for laser applications (metal AM, SLS) or g-code generation (FDM, CNC).
At the beginning of the sales cycle for a printed part, a lot of time can be spent by both parties figuring out what the other party’s abilities and wishes are. Transparency policies on the purchaser’s side lower the odds that this investment in time will pay back: as a rule, there are at least 3 suppliers invited for every RFQ, so it’s a 3:1 gamble against the supplier when he invests in labor for quoting.
Since these costs have to be recovered somehow, they will end up in the price of the next offer, thereby lowering the probability that, that offer will lead to a sale. This vicious circle can be broken with a quoting software like DigiFabster’s, which reduces the cost per quote to a fraction of a man-made quote.
DigiFabster’s software emulates the actions and work-flow of a sales engineer, but much faster and thus cheaper. The software does not generate g-code to figure out the cost of a part to the last digit before offering -and neither would the sales engineer- but the cost is worked out by the rule-of-thumb. Once the offer is accepted, the real investment in engineering labor can be made to optimize production costs and product quality.”
This being said, the co-founder of DigiFabster believes the biggest challenge of a SaaS provider is “gaining trust”. Trust in his solution, which will remain a black box to even an experienced developer, trust in web-based technologies.”
Moreover, vis-à-vis their customers, data collection is often misinterpreted in DigiFabster’s work. The company explains: “given our data structure it is mainly a point of perception, we do not, for example, gather credit card information, but the idea that this could be an issue keeps potential customers and end users away.”
Lee-Bath Nelson on her side, did not mention any issue LEO Lane might encounter in its journey. Speaking of SaaS solutions in general and what’s crucial for users, the co-founder laid emphasis on the fact that “not holding the file” is a major issue.
“It’s an issue of integrity and keeping the file correct and consistent without anybody changing it by mistake.
To carry on the file example, some SaaS software require the user to hold the file with them or in a dedicated appliance (on premise or in the cloud) and that’s not desirable for most corporations. If you are holding files in the cloud, then corporations usually require some form of extra security, not just a standard encryption… and that’s also something to consider.
On the other hand, some SaaS software, like ours, can manage this without holding files thanks to a sophisticated yet simple architecture. In these cases, adoption is much easier in terms of corporate policies.
When you move to AM production in a corporation, you must have corporate-grade solution in place. We make sure that the AM process is secure, consistent (repeatable), and tracked. Consistency enforcement means parts can only be manufactured in a way that they were specified by the expert yielding consistent parts regardless of when or where they are produced. This is crucial for a brand’s reputation.”
Looking ahead
Specialised offerings can address specific needs, but their usefulness must be checked against the company’s data, equipment and constraints.
A trial on a representative workflow can check data exchange, access rights and functional limits before wider deployment.
Comparison sites can help build a shortlist. They do not replace a demonstration using a real case, a contract review and verification of how data can be recovered.
Cloud use alone does not establish GDPR compliance. Where personal data are processed, responsibilities, provider safeguards and any transfers must be assessed. The CNIL’s architecture guidance covers security, location and reversibility considerations.
A suitable choice combines functional fit with control over dependencies: integration, continuity, security, cost and the ability to change provider.
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