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You are here: Home / Archives for Business

Business

3-D Printing Coming Into Its Own

May 24, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

As manufacturers catch on to the technology as faster and less expensive, 3-D printing is making significant inroads in the arena, applying it to high-volume manufacturing.

The updated methods are being used to produce a five-centimeter tall model of the Eiffel Tower, among a growing number of applications. A new additive manufacturing technology is 25 to 100 times faster than conventional 3-D printing, producing items such as parts that are stronger and less expensive to make.

Carbon3D, a start-up company founded in 2013, developed the method.

Continuous Liquid Interface Production — is a breakthrough technology that grows parts instead of printing them layer by layer. CLIP allows businesses to produce commercial quality parts at game-changing speeds, creating a clear path to 3D manufacturing.

3-D printing creates an object by depositing sequential layers of material. It isn’t as fast or as low-cost as conventional processes, but it lends itself to complex objects. Companies such as Carbon3D say it is fast enough to compete with usual mass manufacturing.

Watching a complex object rise, such as a geodesic ball, seemingly miraculously out of a layer of liquid, is convincing. The object appears continuously, rather than in discrete layers, so a finished item emerges faster. The materials are engineered to solidify when exposed to light. Under earlier 3-D processes, the laser must be turned off after each layer so more liquid can be spread out. This process slows the time to finished product and the interfaces between layers may be weak points in the finished product.

The newer technology is related to stereolithography, with a laser tracing a pattern on liquid. The Carbon 3D researchers, who are affiliated with North Carolina State University, figured out a way to make the process continuous, with no interfaces between layers, eliminating weak spots. Key is a modification in the liquid that prevents immediate solidification when exposed to light. A thin layer of oxygen temporarily stalls the chemical reactions leading to a solid.

Accelerated 3D printing crafts objects from a pool of material.
Accelerated 3D printing crafts objects from a pool of material.

The process has been proven to work with a variety of commercial plastics and the research continues on different liquids. The North Carolina group has raised more than $41 million in venture funding to continue the work.

Predictions that 3-D printing would replace conventional manufacturing in the near future seem to be materializing faster than many would have predicted.

Filed Under: 3D Printing Tagged With: 3D Printers

Home Cleaning Services Booming

May 6, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

Startup Helpling offers a wide range of home cleaning services.
Startup Helpling offers a wide range of home cleaning services.
Online services that match people who want their homes cleaned and those who clean homes are beginning to bloom internationally.

In just four months, Helpling, an on-demand home cleaning service headquartered in Berlin, Germany, has significantly increased its investment. After raising $17 million initially, the company has closed a $45 million Series B round to support its rapid expansion, primarily in Germany and other European countries. To date, the service is available in Germany, Austria, France, Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada.

Helpling is speedily moving into new markets. The company offers some services in Canada, but not yet in the United States. A dearth of such services has helped the company make quick inroads. In Europe, 200 companies now exist despite little more than a year’s experience. Even so, although Helpling eclipses competitors such as American start-ups HomeJoy, Handy and Hassle, the number of Helpling customers average only 250 in the cities in which it is available.

Co-founder Benedikt Franke explains some of the figures. They are based on relatively short experience and on the level of investment the company has decided to make in its various sites, he said.

The service steers people who want their homes cleaned to professionals who do such cleaning. Carefully vetting professional cleaners is an important part of the service. Helpling has tested two approaches: A personal interview and a test clean or an online questionnaire and telephone interview. A review of past cleaning experience and background/reference checks are included. Based on results, the company has settled on the latter process. Company officials are well aware that one bad experience could have a negative impact.

The customer’s rating of their service is an important element. And the workers who receive the highest ratings are rewarded.

Franke feels confident that Helpling is just a bellwether concept in what will be an expanding market, both in Europe and in the United States as people increasingly turn to online sources to procure services.

Filed Under: Best Of The Web, Business Tagged With: entrepreneur

Amazon Home Services Marketplace

March 30, 2015 By Twila Van Leer

amazon-local-servicesAmazon has launched its Home Services (formerly Amazon Local Services). If you are looking for voice lessons, yoga classes, furniture assemble, mounting wall televisions, setting up baby gates, house keeping or even assembling those products you buy at Ikea, now you can order them directly on Amazon. You can list your services on Amazon if you are a service provider or you can look for services close to you. Using geo based technology, Amazon matches your queries with your zip code. How will this impact your lifestyle? Hopefully it will make it much easier for you to get help with simple to expert projects.

Amazon Home Services competes directly with Angie’s List and other online local services. The number of Amazon’s service categories and the number of cities in which they are offered are both ballooning. It will take some time for the public to get used to ordering local services this way and time for merchants to list their services on Amazon.

As of March 30, Amazon Home Services was available in Miami, San Francisco, New York, Houston, Seattle, Chicago, Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Boston, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Portland, Minneapolis, Detroit, Denver, Riverside, Tampa, Orlando, Austin, Sacramento, Pittsburgh, Nashville, Cincinnati, Charlotte and St. Louis. Other locations are being added regularly.

Quietly introduced in late 2014, the service initially featured service providers whose businesses could help Amazon shoppers with additional needs related to purchases, such as installers who could put up a new TV. The expanded program goes well beyond that concept.

Now the list includes such things as plumbers, home improvement sources, lawn and garden, auto mechanics, computer and electronics aids and yoga instructors. There is a “more” category for items that jibe with those listings. It includes such exotica as “goat grazing” and “singing performances.” The goal is to have a list for anything a customer is likely to need, including housecleaning and babysitting.

The introduction of the expanded service is a big step toward competing effectively in the on-demand economy. Amazon is partnering with some of the on-demand service startups, but not trying to replace them entirely. The approach is consistent with what Amazon has done with other initiatives, such as its online art store or the Amazon Sellers program. Experimentation has proved that the relationships can increase sales for small retailers of physical goods.

Amazon hand-picks the businesses it includes at its sites and ensures that they are licensed, insured and background-checked. The mega company had taken a 20 percent cut of services costing under $1,000 and 15 percent of those over that amount. But in conjunction with the new launch, service fees have been readjusted in three categories with varying fees. The company also has built in safeguards to assure the authenticity of user reviews and prevent spurious reviews by those who want to cause trouble for a competitor. Amazon shoppers buy services by putting them in an online cart so reviews can be authenticated.

The Amazon website says that prices quoted in the service are the same as those prospective customers would receive if they called the service provider direct. That answers some complaints from customers who sought services in the earlier phase of the program. Amazon also offers to match prices if the customer can find them cheaper elsewhere.

Filed Under: Business Development, Saving Money Tagged With: Amazon, business, entrepreneur, Local Services

Small Businesses Also Get Hacked

October 23, 2014 By Twila Van Leer

Scott Schrober, CEO of Varitronic Systems,
Scott Schrober, CEO of Varitronic Systems,
Everyone has heard, read about or seen the multi analyses of the disastrous computer breaches at JP Morgan Chase, Target and Home Depot, but what about the small businesses that have suffered similar (possibly greater when you consider scale) crises?

About 44 percent of the small companies in the country have been affected by cyber crime, according to a 2013 survey by the National Small Business Association. The average cost of dealing with the damage was $8,700, the association reported.

The small businesses often become part of the damage inflicted on the larger businesses. When JPMorgan Chase data was breached, for instance, 7 million small businesses shared in the fallout, along with 76 million households. Target Corp., Michael’s Stores, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus, who also reported compromised information in the past year, also have small contracting companies as customers.

Businesses lose revenue when they have to shut down their systems to allow the experts to ferret out the harmful viruses that caused the damage. Additional costs are racked up as the affected companies have to notify each company or individual who was affected by the breach. Most states require a compromised business to notify customers. If lawsuits are brought by injured customers, the costs go up again.

Small businesses sometimes become vulnerable to attack because the owners believe they can’t afford the software programs and consulting services that might protect them, or the time to deal with potential attacks. Some small businessmen and women simply are not aware of the risks. They don’t know that they can be attacked by what they believe is a relatively harmless source. An innocent-seeming email from a friend whose computer has been attacked may mean trouble. Not knowing how sophisticated the enemy has become can be fatal.

Scott Schrober, CEO of Varitronic Systems, took steps to protect his company after a hacker weaseled $50,000 from his company’s bank account recently, an Associated Press story related. Schrober took steps to prevent any further intrusion by investing $50,000 in security and plans and intends to spend another $20,000. He believes his company was targeted because computer security is his business. The thieves were sending a message.

While there is no security system that will absolutely guarantee immunity from hackers, experts suggests that small business owners take these precautions:

  • Pay a computer security consultant to evaluate your system and make recommendations.
  • Purchase insurance to cover potential losses. Premiums can be as low as $1,000 for a million dollars in coverage.
  • Install free anti-virus and anti-malware software that you can find online. Add firewalls that block attempts to access.
  • Make certain that your email provider has effective security.
  • Use a separate company to process orders to avoid having customer credit card information stolen. Be certain that the company you collaborate with has a secure system.
  • Look into a service that specializes in spotting fraudulent credit card transactions.

Filed Under: Fraud, Security Tagged With: business

Small Business Hires Are Up

August 25, 2014 By Twila Van Leer

Companies are leaving behind their post-recession caution and stepping up hiring.
Companies are leaving behind their post-recession caution and stepping up hiring.
For some time, financial experts have been predicting a surge in hiring among small businesses. Now it’s happening. As the demand for their products and services swell, the companies are leaving behind their post-recession caution and stepping up hiring, economists report.

The growth in the small business arena also is reflected in a spate of new businesses such as car care, spas, cosmetology and special service areas. This suggests that Americans as individuals also are moving beyond the recession mode and spending more for non-essentials. As the general economy becomes more robust, the money is spreading further, small businesses report. A quickly-recovering construction industry and increased consumer spending also are fuel for the increased hiring in the small business sector.

The recovery of the real estate market in south Florida, for example, allowed Tadd Schwartz to add five members to the staff of his public relations firm in the past year. The company’s revenue is up 16 percent in 2014 and he is now able to “hit the ground running” when a new client shows up.

A sharp increase in orders also prompted Brad Barrett, owner of Grill Grate to look for new employees. Barrett and his wife spent the post-Fourth of July Monday filling more than 500 orders for their product, which is a raised grilling surface for backyard grills. Obviously, it was time to take on more help. They expected to add two workers to their Cartersville, Ga., company shortly. The Barretts expect a 40 percent growth in revenue this year.

The surge in small business hiring also has a ripple effect. New employees need computers and supplies. Companies that had put off upgrades in their equipment and inventories are spending to get back on track.

Filed Under: Business

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