Call for Developers and Builder/Retail Partners!

The GGFlex project is growing rapidly and is actively looking for more development and commercial partners in the community!

I personally work as a freelance product design and manufacturing consultant (though I recently have stopped taking other work to focus entirely on this project), but my abilities in programming, systems development, and scaled commercial enterprise/e-commerce are somewhat limited. My work background in an aerospace CNC job shop and time spent in the Open Source tech space have so far covered our bases for technical development and design issues, but with the departure of most of the other developers originally associated with the project, we have an increasing number of project goals that I'm not equipped to work on... or often don't have time to address, as I'm currently managing the bulk of both development and retail operations solo...

One of our largest upcoming projects is the development of a project repository and commercial listing space. This website would basically be a combination of Thingiverse and eBay – intended to provide both project CAD and pre-assembled Gcode repositories (specific to the FLEX and supported projects), as well as a listing space to allow users to list/advertise machine parts, upgrades, electronics, raw materials, 3D printing services and parts, and build parties/workshops in their areas. This project is both a huge web design and databasing project for a coder more competent than myself, as well as an opening for both established retailers and folks just looking for weekend work to pool resources and create a well rooted, completely decentralized marketplace.

Other upcoming project goals include:
1. The testing and finalization of the advanced project features and expansion to any additional community driven goals, including enclosure, dust collection, alternate framing methods, etc.
2. Creation of a retail template, pricing standard, and packaging to create standardized, presentable, retail-friendly kits
3. A crowdfunding campaign for one of the more advanced and scaled-up configurations of the FLEX to push the advanced features package and custom manufacture of certain parts (in particular a specialized, open source and feature-rich 32-bit controller dedicated to the project)
4. Integration and advancement of related technologies and processes like injection molding, tool/die/button grinding, injection/resin molding, circuit board manufacture/component PNP, lost PLA aluminum/bronze casting, etc. highlighting projects that use these other related technologies alongside the FLEX
5. Creation of a fully decentralized/peer-hosted backup of the FLEX and all project repositories, likely in a torrent format with blockchain-based user and host verification

A lot of these goals are not specific to the FLEX itself but are rather large structural changes that a lot of our affiliated communities have been pushing for for some time. A lot of the modularity and underlying planning of the FLEX was to forward these goals, and the decentralized and open source nature of the project is still being pushed to achieve them. The more widely accepted and accessible the technology becomes, the more opportunities open up for community members to join in and actively participate in proliferating the technology and related projects.

In general, the project is also just expanding rapidly and getting to the point where it's an 80-hour per week commitment for me and users would be better served with a few more hands on deck!



DEVELOPERS
The early project development team was made up of a group of eight folks with varying education backgrounds, work experience, resources, and familiarity with Open Source/3DP technologies. Over time, most of the devs has moved on - to the point that there are now only three of us,with a very narrow range of expertise and experience and fairly limited time to put into the project (besides my own full time commitment). The health and accessibility of the project, and the rate that we can provide support to each other is directly dependent on having a diverse dev group with a wide range of experience levels and abilities.
Anybody with technical expertise in a field that might be considered related to the FLEX, or who has the skills and free time to lend to CAD, coding, technical troubleshooting, or answering community questions would be a huge asset.
Also, while the project's Open Source nature is free to redistribute and modify as desired, anyone who wants to create a fork of the project to achieve specific goals and support specific features is highly encouraged to contact us directly about their goals. Whether officially joining the development team or going at it solo, we have a huge amount of additional technical data and design info that would be useful for prospective co-developers.
All developers -past and present- have had access to the group buys and bulk pricing we've negotiated with specific wholesalers and industrial suppliers, as well as the help of the other devs in working on their own projects. We have access to a fairly extensive range of fabrication, specialty finishing, SMT assembly, and logistics firms that are excellent assets for developers in this field.
Also, while we do not currently have any financial compensation for the devs (with any profits currently going towards paying back the initial investors among us, expanding inventory, and rolling out more 3D printers and infrastructure as we ramp up) the expansion of the project to increased retail and crowdfunded status will probably result in contractual compensation for all team members.

PRINTERS
Our biggest supply bottleneck is currently sourcing and providing 3D printing capacity. Any community members who have time to spare on their personal printers and want to make a bit of extra money are encouraged to contact me. Between the three people currently providing printing services to our retail operation we have a coordinated system for providing materials and finished parts, as well as fully preconfigured gcode files for common printer types. Each set of parts takes around 100 hours between four separate plates/setups and we've valuing complete printed sets at around a $40 median (bulk printers who can produce more and at shorter notice save a bunch in shipping and logistical headaches and make more, while folks printing one or two sets and shipping as a single package are compensated a bit less).

BUILDERS
As we get more and more users onboard, we want to be able to offer complete machines as well as DIY kits. Since the complete machines cost significantly more to ship and are more at risk of damage in shipping, we'd generally prefer to have a bunch of 'Builders' located throughout the US who would either personally sell, or handle drop-shipping of kits to their local areas. Anybody who enjoyed assembling their kit and wants to join our Builder network, please contact me!
I can handle the sales and logistics on my end through our central retail operation, or Builders are free to advertise and sell their own setups however they wish.
We can supply all parts required to build the machine or only specific parts. If Builders want to produce custom-sized machines, for example, we can provide all the fasteners and standard parts alongside meter-length stock for the Builder to cut to size themselves. Prospective Builders are also encouraged to print their own parts for the range of customization it offers and the savings in supplying/shipping the printed parts.
At this time we are handling both monthly 'group buys' among the devs, individual pre-orders, and kits shipped on receipt to be built up.

RETAILERS
Any community members who have established retail, wholesale, or logistics experience and enterprises in e-commerce are encouraged to contact us as we grow and approach our retail-friendly, consumer packaged system.