Time to read: 2 min

For as long as we can remember, we’ve been fascinated by the way things are made. Since childhood, we have been tinkering with toys and electronic gadgets, taking them apart so we could understand them and learn how to create those same items ourselves.

Along the way, one of the things we learned was the importance of access to great tools. We were very fortunate to attend incredible schools and join great companies which offered cutting edge technology and expertise. This gave us the opportunity to study and understand at a deep level the way things are made. We are keenly aware that such resources aren’t available to all.

And while there’s been a number of recent developments (e.g. falling costs + new desktop/software tools) that have sparked the world of hardware, we believe many looming issues remain in the current system that make bringing a commercially viable hardware product to market challenging — issues like no-quotes for students and new businesses, fragmented ecosystems, inefficient quote/order/tracking systems, and little competitive advantage for local vendors, just to name a few.

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce today that Moddler and Fictiv are partnering to combat many of these very issues and help democratize hardware development together.

Going forward, Fictiv will be providing all of Moddler’s sales, support, and job scheduling needs through the Fictiv platform. And as a result, Fictiv customers will get even greater access to the amazing quality of work at Moddler.

When we first met John and his team 18 months ago it was apparent that the quality of their work was second to none. Moddler’s singular focus on providing consistent, reliable, and high quality 3D parts was unquestionable and the best we’d seen.

Vendors like Moddler are the cornerstones of the ecosystem for democratizing hardware development. Together, we’re committed to building a system that rewards smaller vendors who take pride in their craft and elevates them with the economies of scale that typically only larger manufacturing companies are able to realize.

Above all else, we believe that every designer + engineer that wants access to the same tools as Ford, Apple, and Tesla should have that opportunity. This alliance is an important step toward making this a reality.

We hope you’ll join us.