Shortly before the official ICO (Initial Coin Offering taking place on February 18th) the start-up erecoin concludes a cooperation agreement with 3D printing service provider Beamler. Both companies will cooperate in the development of the blockchain for additive manufacturing in the future. The partners will soon be launching smart contracts for additive applications, specifying common use cases.
Two companies specialized in additive manufacturing, Beamler and erecoin, have announced their cooperation to further develop blockchain technology for 3D printing. “When I heard about the project, I did not hesitate a second and contacted Konstantin Steinmüller. The combination of Blockchain and 3D printing will provide valuable benefits for our customers as well” says Willem-Jan van Loon, CEO of the 3D software company Beamler. The core business of the Dutch company is to boost the growth of end-user companies by offering a variety of 3D printing solutions to gain more value from Additive Manufacturing on an industrial scale.
“We are very happy about the support and the cooperation of Beamler. First of all, it is a great statement for our previous work shortly before the official sale of our tokens on February the 18th. Second, Beamler with its software solution is an extremely important link in the further development of the entire production chain based on the Blockchain”, says co-founder of erecoin Konstantin Steinmüller.
Application Scenarios will be developed together
Essentially, the cooperation agreement between the two companies states that the first application scenarios will be developed together. In addition to classic interface programming, the main focus will be on defining smart contracts that can be mapped in the blockchain solution of erecoin on the one hand, and on the other hand can answer the challenges of the 3D printing customers of Beamler. “I have been working on the subject of blockchain and additive manufacturing for some time and therefore already have a clear picture of the necessary steps. Most important, however, is the following for me: Soon we can offer our customers not only 642 machine types and 853 material variants, but also the clear statement: We are Blockchain-ready”, says van Loon.
The utility token will play an important role in the rapidly growing Additive Manufacturing industry. The idea to marry the two mega-trends “Blockchain” and “Additive Manufacturing” was born when Konstantin Steinmüller told his current partner Jürgen Kleinfelder about a 3D prototype optimization project of his company CAE-lab GmbH.
In many additive applications, we talk too much about bureaucratic issues such as validation, trust and security. At the end the engineering takes a back seat often enough, says Steinmüller. The awareness that Blockchain provides excellent structures that would only have to be transferred to the special requirements of Additive Manufacturing was brought into the project by IT expert Kleinfelder.
The ecosystem of 3d printing is already complex. erecoin will secure the transactions between users.
The goal is nothing less than to eliminate a large part of the uncertainties in the process chain of additive manufacturing. Blockchain technology offers the possibility to conclude smart contracts in order to solve legal and technical questions in the additive world. The data exchange and rules on the use of the data are integrated into the blockchain.
This creates an efficient, secure and unambiguous relationship of trust between all parties involved in the process chain; from the first digital sketch to the finished individual product. The erecoin platform thus eliminates dependencies on economic and resource-rich centres and is a global and decentral accelerator of additive manufacturing. Individuals and companies, regardless of their geographical location, will be able to design, modify, buy and manufacture products using the erecoin platform.
Further project planning
After a period of intense market research and further development of knowledge in the field of additive manufacturing and blockchain technology, the definition and draft of the erecoin project is largely completed. From the 18th February 2019 on, the new crypto token for Additive Manufacturing can be purchased on the Ethereum infrastructure.
The crowdfunding itself follows well-established processes of ICOs. Thus, the crowd sale, i.e. the official sale via online platforms takes place based on a scale of discount. The token purchase is divided into two steps. First the Investor has to pass a Know Your Customer Procedure and in the next step the smart contract will be concluded. This procedure ensures maximum transparency and legal compliance.
After this initial phase, the team begins with fine-tuning the erecoin project, building the team and infrastructure. The iterative development of the erecoin platform and the integration of smart contract functions into the platform will start in March 2019 together with Alpha users and their project staff. The team expects full functionality of the erecoin platform and establishment of the ERE as a utility token mid-2020.
Beamler
Founded as a software provider in autumn 2016 Beamler today is a well-established company specialized in minimizing operational constraints across the 3D printing industry. The company’s goal is to accelerate the growth of additive manufacturing user by offering a variety of 3D printing solutions that empower them to reap the benefits of large-scale 3D printing. Beamler’s platform enables access to an extensive database for industrial 3D printing that allows to print custom parts anywhere in the world, in just 4 steps. The database provides customers with a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of what is currently possible with additive manufacturing technologies. The platform currently works with 642 different types of machines, 853 different types of materials and 431 manufacturing locations around the world.
erecoin
The erecoin platform is a symbiosis of Additive Manufacturing and Blockchain. Both technologies are currently changing the world. Blockchain applications fundamentally change the financial economy — the additive manufacturing enables users to print real objects freed of production-technical restrictions. erecoin applies the logic and functionality of the blockchain system to the application in additive manufacturing. With the help of the utility tokens and smart contracts in erecoin, all participants in the 3D printing process chain will be able to carry out traceable, secure and simple transactions in the future. For more information read whitepaper on