New connections. Shared possibilities.

Shanghai and the wider region around it have deep experience in making things. Engineers, technicians, workshop owners and material specialists carry knowledge built up over many years: how to choose a process, tune a machine, judge a surface finish and solve a production problem before it becomes a customer problem.

That knowledge matters to our vision. A network where designs travel and making happens locally is only as good as the people doing the making. We want to learn from those who already understand production, and to explore how their capabilities could contribute to something more open and connected.

Why manufacturing knowledge matters

Desktop 3D printing looks simple from the outside. In practice, good results depend on many small decisions: orientation, supports, layer settings, cooling, material handling and inspection. Each decision affects quality, waste and time.

People with production experience tend to think about these things systematically. They know that consistency comes from routines, that measurement beats guesswork and that a failed part should be understood, not just reprinted. Those habits are exactly what a trustworthy local making network needs.

We are also interested in how experienced producers think about waste. Support material, failed prints, packaging and energy all have a cost. We want to measure them honestly rather than assume local making is automatically greener. Our approach is set out in Responsible making.

Our planned focus areas

Our Shanghai focus covers four areas. Each is a priority for exploration, not a service that is already running.

Merchant onboarding

We want to meet print shops, studios and small workshops with real production capability, and understand what equipment they use, which materials they trust and how they check their work. Merchants would join on clear terms, keep their own brand and customers, and take on clearly defined responsibilities for production, quality checks, photographs, packaging and handover. Read about the merchant role.

Local delivery coordination

Shanghai is a large city with many distinct districts. We are exploring how a finished piece could be matched with a nearby merchant and delivered within the city once the customer has accepted it. We have no delivery partnerships to announce, and we intend to learn from people who already move goods across the city every day.

Operations

We want to understand how experienced workshops organise their day: queueing jobs, inspecting output, recording problems and communicating with customers. Those practices can inform how the network’s planned routines are designed, so they suit real production rather than an idealised one.

Materials

Material knowledge is one of the region’s strengths. We are interested in documented, verifiable information about how materials perform and how they are stored and handled. We expect suppliers to describe compatibility honestly and not overstate what a material can do. See materials partnerships.

Good local making depends on production knowledge. We want to learn from the people who already have it.

Who we want to hear from

  • Workshops and print studios with consistent, well-documented production practices.
  • Production engineers and technicians who can share how quality and waste are managed in practice.
  • Material specialists and suppliers with honest, evidence-based information about their materials.
  • Equipment makers interested in open standards rather than closed ecosystems — see equipment partnerships.
  • Delivery and logistics businesses that know how to move goods across the city carefully.

How Shanghai complements the wider network

Every city we look at brings something different. Shanghai’s contribution, as we see it, is depth of production knowledge and the ability to help define what good, repeatable quality looks like for local making. That knowledge can travel through the network just as designs do, while the work itself stays with local businesses.

Our values guide this exploration: open by design, made with care, honest about what’s ready and clear, fair responsibilities for everyone involved.

Where we are today

Our Shanghai focus describes intended direction. It does not announce an operating service, confirmed partners or guaranteed availability; local arrangements and platform readiness must come first. Images of the city on our site are illustrative and do not represent offices or service locations.

What we can offer now is a genuine conversation. If you bring production experience, materials expertise or local delivery knowledge in Shanghai, we would like to hear from you.