Vindicator article
Zac Divencenzo and Dan Fernback like the idea of helping manufacturers.
With their company, JuggerBot 3D LLC, the two Youngstown State University graduates are hoping to do just that.
“Our goal, as a company, is to help manufacturers, engineers and designers better manage their day-to-day tasks to save them money,” Fernback said.
The JuggerBot 3-D printer was created as a more affordable option for manufacturers. With a 3-D printer, manufacturers can build what they need through additive manufacturing – the process of adding layer after layer to create the product.
“We saw a gap in the market,” Divencenzo said.
Industrial-grade 3-D printers run $50,000 and up typically. There are some machines that are $5,000 and below, but they aren’t what manufacturers want. The JuggerBot 3-D printer will run about $25,000.
“Even the machines over $50,000 and up came with shortcomings,” Divencenzo said.
In school, Divencenzo and Fernback learned about the benefits of the 3-D printing technology. JuggerBot 3D formed in 2014 and became a portfolio company at the Youngstown Business Incubator. The company surveyed manufacturers to find out what their needs were for a 3-D printer and from there came up with their printer.
The printer comes with a touch screen, instead of a computer monitor to create the design for the 3-D products. The printer itself has what’s called an interdependent drive system that allows the machine to effectively process a variety of materials. JuggerBot has a patent pending for this system.
“The other area we focus on is usability,” Fernback said. “This plays into the ecosystem of the solution that we provide our customers.”
JuggerBot launched a 12-week beta test with one manufacturer and an educational institution to gain some feedback on the JuggerBot printer. Now, the company is officially taking orders for printers for the next stage: gamma. The company has two verbal commitments from companies interested in being a gamma partner. Gamma is the last stage of development, Fernback explained. In this stage, designs are finalized, production methods and protocol and put into action are support services are kicked off.
“We are in a solid position,” Fernback said. “We are excited to see what the new year has to bring.”
To get JuggerBot to this position, the company has had what Fernback says is invaluable support from the YBI. JuggerBot was one of three companies to win YBI’s AMPED competition for technology startups that gave the company an initial $25,000 and then $45,000 later on.
“I think they are in a very good stage right now,” said Gene Groys, entrepreneur in residence at YBI. “They have validated their product market fit. They have transformed their company to what I believe is what the market needs.”
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