Several UPS stores in the San Diego area will be offering 3D printing services, said the company recently. Additional locations are expected to follow suit.

Michelle Van Slyke (Vice president, Marketing and small business solutions, UPS Store): Start-ups, entrepreneurs and small business owners may not have the capital to purchase a 3D printer on their own, but they may have a need to show prototypes to their current and potential customers.

The UPS Store is testing the Stratasys uPrint SE Plus printer, and UPS stores will be equipped to produce items like engineering parts, functional prototypes, acting props, architectural models, fixtures for cameras, and lights/cables, among other things.

UPS stores in the U.S., some 4,300 of them, are independently owned and operated by licensed franchisees of the UPS Store, a subsidiary of UPS.

[Image courtesy: Stratasys]