Introduction:

WAZP is redefining the possibilities of 3D printing by seamlessly combining sustainability, innovation, and customization. Founded with a vision to integrate 3D printing into everyday life, WAZP is on a mission to create high-quality, locally manufactured products that are accessible and ethically produced. From the scenic west coast of Ireland, the team at WAZP is transforming traditional supply chains, offering custom-made solutions to tackle some of the biggest challenges in the industry, from overproduction to the demand for more sustainable manufacturing.

In this interview, WAZP shares its journey from a small Irish company founded in 2015 to an international leader in distributed manufacturing. Key milestones include groundbreaking partnerships with industry giants like IKEA and Vivobarefoot, as well as their integration of cutting-edge technology like Grasshopper and ShapeDiver. These collaborations and tools have enhanced their efficiency and expanded their ability to deliver highly customized products, ensuring customers receive exactly what they envision.

This conversation is a must-read for those interested in the intersection of technology, sustainability, and next-generation manufacturing. Let’s dive in!

1. Can you give us a brief overview of WAZP and its mission in 3D printing and additive manufacturing?

WAZP was founded with the vision of integrating 3D printing into people’s everyday lives. Our approach focuses on creating useful, affordable products, supported by platforms and tools that ensure accessibility. Sustainability is a core value for us; we prioritize ethically sourced materials and durable designs to ensure that our products stand the test of time. Ultimately, WAZP's mission is to provide high-quality, customized, and locally manufactured products that blend innovation with sustainability, making 3D printing a key part of modern living.

Our team at WAZP consists of passionate experts in supply, sourcing, quality control, product design, software development, and operations. Together, we have tackled some of the most significant challenges in consumer 3D printing, consistently delivering excellence. Being based on the west coast of Ireland provides daily inspiration for our mission—to transform supply chains through 3D printing for a more sustainable future. This location reminds us of the importance of creating solutions that are environmentally conscious while pushing the boundaries of innovation.

2. How has WAZP evolved since its founding in 2015, and what milestones have shaped the company’s growth?

WAZP has thrived in a rapidly evolving industry marked by continuous innovations and challenges, both from within and from established companies looking to integrate 3D printing into their operations. Key milestones in our journey include partnerships with VivoBarefoot and IKEA. With IKEA, we successfully produced on-demand products while maintaining the cost expectations of their customers. Our collaboration with VivoBarefoot pushed the boundaries further by enabling the production of fully customized goods.

These achievements, along with our unwavering commitment to innovation, sustainability and our founding vision, have positioned us to offer custom, on-demand products using cutting-edge technology.

3. What are the main industries WAZP serves, and what makes your approach to 3D printing unique in those markets?

WAZP’s core market is consumer goods, and we have a proven track record of delivering excellence, including supplying companies like IKEA with 3D printed products—a world-first in on-demand 3D printing. Our ambition is to make 3D printing accessible to as many people as possible. What sets us apart is our focus on designing not only products but also affordable solutions tailored to the needs of the end consumer.

4. WAZP positions itself as offering a “distributed manufacturing footprint” and “Supply Chain as a Service.” Could you explain how these features benefit your clients, especially regarding sustainability and scalability?

WAZP’s distributed manufacturing footprint allows us to produce products closer to the point of need, reducing transportation costs and carbon emissions. By designing for and leveraging a global network of manufacturing sites, we can offer clients a more sustainable supply chain, minimizing environmental impact while ensuring fast delivery. 

By viewing elements of what we do at WAZP in the framework of Supply Chain as a Service mode it enables our clients to scale efficiently without the burden of managing complex logistics. We can handle everything from design and production to fulfillment, allowing businesses to focus on innovation and growth. This approach provides flexibility to respond to demand in real time, ensuring scalability and sustainability as core benefits.

5. What would you say are WAZP’s top three competitive advantages over traditional manufacturing methods? 

WAZP’s competitive advantages over traditional manufacturing methods are:

- On-Demand Production & Reduced Waste:

Unlike traditional manufacturing, which often requires large upfront production runs and can lead to excess inventory, WAZP’s on-demand 3D printing allows for flexible production and production that responds to actual sales. This minimizes waste, as products are only made when needed, contributing to both cost savings and environmental sustainability.

- Design Freedom & Customization:

Our 3D printing capabilities enable greater design flexibility, allowing clients to create complex geometries and customized products that would be costly or impossible to achieve using traditional methods. This opens up new possibilities for innovation and product differentiation.

- Local Manufacturing & Faster Time to Market:

By committing our belief in local manufacturing, we can produce closer to the end consumer, reducing lead times and shipping costs. This model also enables clients to scale globally without investing in costly manufacturing infrastructure, providing greater agility and responsiveness to market demands.

6. You’ve been collaborating with Vivobarefoot on the VivoBiome project, which leverages 3D printing to create custom footwear. Could you tell us about your role in the VivoBiome initiative and how it aligns with your values?

WAZP has been involved in this project with Vivobarefoot from the very beginning, choosing to participate because it aligns perfectly with our core values—creating unique, bespoke products that are made locally and with minimal environmental impact. From the outset, we saw a shared vision in Vivobarefoot's commitment to sustainability and innovation, which gave us confidence that together we could tackle some of the major challenges facing the footwear and fashion industries, such as waste and overproduction.

By leveraging our distributed manufacturing model and on-demand 3D printing capabilities, we’ve been able to help Vivobarefoot explore more sustainable, efficient production methods. This collaboration enables us to significantly reduce waste, minimize excess inventory, and produce products that are not only tailored to consumers but also better for the planet. Together, we’re setting a new standard for how footwear can be designed and manufactured with sustainability at its core.

7. WAZP has recently started working with the Rhino/Grasshopper/ShapeDiver tech stack. How did you come across these tools, and what made you decide to adopt them for your projects?

We discovered Rhino/Grasshopper/ShapeDiver as part of our work with one of our partners who use the same toolchain to generate shoes based on user scans as well as a fit visualiser.

8. What specific challenges has ShapeDiver helped you solve, and how has parametric design improved your workflows?

ShapeDiver has helped us with three specific challenges.

Firstly, it allows our customers to visualise the final product in real-time based on the parameters they choose. This feature enables us to offer more complex customisation options and provide a richer customer experience. Secondly, once we receive an order with customer parameters, we use Rhino/Grasshopper to significantly reduce the time needed to generate the STL files for 3D printing. Finally, using the same tech stack to visualise our product for our customers and generate our print files allows us to ensure that the product they receive matches what they ordered on our web page.

9. Can you give us some examples of projects where you’ve successfully used the Rhino/Grasshopper/ShapeDiver combination?

Our current project where we’ve used Rhino/Grasshopper/ShapeDiver is a website focused on selling customisable 3D printed consumer products. We spent about a month getting familiar with Rhino/Grasshopper, followed by three weeks integrating ShapeDiver into a web app to manage sales.

10. Looking ahead, how do you envision WAZP’s role in the future of additive manufacturing and distributed production?

Looking ahead, WAZP envisions a future where additive manufacturing and distributed production redefine the way products are made and delivered. Our vision is to become a local producer on a global scale, using local materials to manufacture products as close to the customer as possible. This approach not only reduces environmental impact but also enhances efficiency, enabling faster, more sustainable delivery of goods.

We also see the future of additive manufacturing as one where personal products take center stage—where every individual has the ability to create bespoke consumer goods that perfectly fit their needs. By empowering consumers with the capability to customize and personalize, we’re moving toward a world of true product individualization.

Moreover, we are committed to democratizing manufacturing by making cutting-edge production technologies, products, and supply chain solutions accessible to businesses of all sizes. Whether a small startup or a large enterprise, we aim to provide everyone with the tools and technologies needed to compete in an increasingly complex global market. In this way, WAZP is not only shaping the future of manufacturing but also driving a shift toward more sustainable, efficient, and personalized production processes.

11. What innovations or new technologies are you most excited about in the 3D printing space, and how is WAZP planning to incorporate them?

At WAZP, some of the most exciting innovations are coming from beyond the traditional 3D printing industry. One standout example is our partnership with Shapediver, which combines a highly flexible supply chain with cutting-edge customization solutions. This collaboration opens up new possibilities for creating fully customized, on-demand products while maintaining efficiency and scalability—something that’s increasingly important in today’s market.

We’re particularly excited about how our growing relationship with Shapediver can integrate the best of both platforms to create truly modern supply chain solutions, offering the flexibility to adapt to changing demands while delivering personalized products. By leveraging this technology, we envision creating supply chains that are not only more efficient but also capable of offering unique, bespoke products to customers on a mass scale.

WAZP plans to continue incorporating such innovations to stay at the forefront of the 3D printing space, ensuring we’re delivering solutions that are relevant for the 21st century—both for businesses seeking sustainable supply chains and for consumers demanding more personalized products.

- Thank you for this great interview!

Thank you as well for this opportunity to share our story.

That's it for this new edition of Getting to know... Don't forget to visit WAZP's website and follow them on their social media channels!

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