#3Dstartup: Marklix produces spare parts thanks to 3D printing

While additive manufacturing allows for faster production of end use parts, it is also very popular for the design of spare parts. These are sometimes very expensive to get due to their scarcity – the automotive sector and vintage cars come to mind in particular – it’s also rather time-consuming to find these parts, manufacture and ship them. Many consumers are therefore discouraged and will tend to throw away their device when it no longer works: this is where Marklix comes in, the online platform allows you to find your spare part and receive it quickly thanks to 3D printing. Thanks to this production method, the young startup can produce small batches at lower costs, offer local production and imagine many spare parts, whether for household appliances or cars for example. We were able to meet Pierre-Jacques Lyon, one of the co-founders of Marklix, to find out more about how the platform works and his ambitions.

3DN: Can you introduce yourself and your link with 3D printing?

My name is Pierre-Jacques Lyon and I am the co-founder of Marklix. I have an engineering background in applied physics. I trained in Canada at the École Polytechnique de Montréal, and in Switzerland at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. I then had the chance to do my final year internship at the CEA in Cadarache and to work as an R&D engineer on the superconductor coils of the ITER fusion reactor project.

My first contact with a 3D printer dates back to my studies at Polytechnique Montréal. We had a lot of design projects to carry out as a group. 3D printing was then an essential tool to facilitate our design and prototyping work. Whether it was to design measuring tools or test benches. In parallel with my studies, entrepreneur at heart, we created with friends a company called D4print. Initially, our goal was to offer printing services in FDM, which led us to the manufacture of our machine and finally the desire to market this beautiful machine. The project was eventually aborted when it was brought to market, due to a lack of capital and the demotivation of some of us to become full-time entrepreneurs. This adventure taught me a lot about additive manufacturing: Its market, its players and its technologies.