As a leader in the 3D printer industry, Craftbot is pleased to announce they have entered an exclusive partnership with Shape Robotics, the danish-based leader in the global EdTech market. The agreement will make Shape Robotics the exclusive reseller and distributor of CraftBots 3D printers for the the EU-funded Romanian Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) of implementing 1,175 SmartLabs within schools. The expectation is that the implementation of the Smartlabs will begin within the first quarter of 2022 and will take roughly 2 to 3 years to complete.
The SmartLab project is designed by the INACO Association - The Initiative for Competitiveness, Romania. INACO has implemented 7 SmartLabs to date and the most recent two are the most advanced and were made in partnership with Shape Robotics.
The concept of educational SmartLabs revolves around the vision of developing a robotic system that is extremely easy-to-use for young children and can be accessed remotely, whether they are home or in a hospital. This special classroom will come fully equipped with high-tech equipment including smart boards, VR glasses, robotic devices, custom computers, furniture, and Craftbot 3D printers. This concept aligns with Craftbot's mission to make 3D printing more accessible and available for everyone to use.
"It is with great honor that Craftbot partners with Shape Robotics to be involved in these SmartLab projects created by INACO. This milestone gives both Craftbot and Shape Robotics great values," said Csaba Mákos, Chief Executive Officer, Craftbot. "I believe this strong cooperation and the fantastic SmartLab concept will open new possibilities for thousands of children. I am very proud that Craftbot is part of this program."
At the end of September 2021, the PNRR project was officially approved by the EU. Shape Robotics has already delivered several SmartLabs in Romania, which have received a great deal of positive attention and with the participation of, among others, the Romanian Minister of Education.
A spin-off company from Fable Systems, Shape Robotics began the INACO SmartLab concept with the Technical University of Denmark and the Danish Ministry of Education. The Technical University of Denmark is the largest, leading environment for training engineers and for technical-science research in the country. The Center for Playware, is a sector of the Technical University and is a leading research centre globally, working at the interface.
The Fable robotics system has since appeared on the top Microsoft Education Apps list and has also launched successfully with partners in the United Kingdom, USA, Italy, France and Mexico with more being added to the global list at a rapid pace.
Craftbot is experience with helping the educational community. The company has had the opportunity to work with several medical universities that have been using 3D printers on prototyping broken and deformed bone anatomical models to educate doctors on how to best operate. Craftbot has allowed doctors to improve surgery performance, which has led to improved outcomes.
"I have personally used 3D printers from Craftbot for many years and know their strength in the 3D printer market. The partnership with Craftbot strengthens our joint project and ensures that the students who need a SmartLab can work with reliable products, for example when they need to 3D print a new tool for the Fable robot," added David Johan Christensen, CEO Shape Robotics.
Since its humble beginnings as a startup in Hungary five years ago, Craftbot has earned a first-class reputation for their manufacturing reliability and easy-to-use desktop 3D printer systems. The company was incepted from the co-founders dissatisfaction with desktop 3D printers in 2014 and their small printing size capabilities.
Being software and hardware developers themselves, they set out to create a 3D printer that would be both easy to use and have the capabilities of a more professional machine. Since that day, the multi-award-winning Craftbot 3D printers have set the industry standard for quality and performance for both beginners and advanced users.
Given the quick success of the company, the experienced inhouse team and award-winning products, Craftbot has set the industry standard for quality and performance for both beginners and advanced users. They offer not just printers, but a complete ecosystem, as they also provide slicer software, Craftware PRO, and offer lesson plans for the educational industry in cooperation with PrintLab.