Web-to-print: integrating additive manufacturing through an API
Most manufacturers are stuck in an old loop: download the CAD file, email for a quote, wait for sales, approve it by hand in the ERP system and wait for production. That wastes a lot of engineering time. API-driven web-to-print pipelines remove those steps.
Why the traditional quote is slow
Industrial 3D printing is about speed. Iterating a part in 48 hours is great, but if it takes 72 hours just to get a quote and a purchase order number through the system, the point is lost. Integrating the flow digitally removes the manual steps in sales and purchasing.
The architecture
- Frontend (WebGL/Three.js): The browser renders STL/3MF/STEP files directly, analyses the geometry and checks the build volume.
- Backend (Python/FastAPI): A microservice works out print time, material use and weight from the g-code and returns a price in milliseconds.
- Integration (ERP/webhook): When the engineer clicks "Order", an API call (REST/GraphQL) goes straight to the company ERP (SAP, Monitor etc.) and creates the purchase order.
Production as a software service
At Builders Group we write software and design mechanics. Besides the carbon-fibre part itself, we can build the software bridge (API, databases, order flows) that connects production to your business system. Your CAD team clicks a button in their own software and the order reaches us.