5.3.1: Communication

A functioning 3D Printing service or workshop will require coordination between more than one person; depending on the service model, there may be several layers of communication required for smooth operations. Workshop managers will of course need to communicate with patrons regarding their prints and projects; if your workshop model is supported by a team of staff, even if they're unofficial student helpers, you'll need to establish lines of communication with them as well as set expectations on how they should communicate with patrons.

Communication with Patrons

Your patrons will, of course, need to know how to contact you to gain access to your 3D printer. If you plan to communicate directly with patrons electronically (as is, of course, the norm nowadays), consider providing them with an "official" shop method for doing so rather than using your own personal contact information. For example, set up a free Gmail account associated with your shop. At the author's institution, which uses Microsoft apps, a special "shared email inbox" was created, and access to it was configured for all shop student staff. An added functionality of setting up a shop account with Google or Microsoft is access to other cloud-based apps, such as calendars or cloud file storage. Your shop calendar can be configured to represent the shop's public hours, and you can often embed such calendars in web pages or social media.

Your patrons will hopefully have an STL model file ready for printing, and so you will need a method of collecting these files and organizing them. Google Forms allows for file uploads, and you can also include questions on the form that will help you print a model with minimal further communication with the patron. Consider questions like:

• The patron's name
• The patron's email address
• The desired filament color
• The desired dimensions of the final print (x/y/z, in clearly stated units of measurement)
• The date the print is needed by
• The number of copies of a model to be printed
• Any special properties the print should have (e.g. "lightweight", "very strong", "very detailed")
• An agreement checkbox to your shop's rules of use
• The STL file upload field (if the form allows for one)

Be sure to include a brief paragraph at the top of the form indicating what can and cannot be printed, and what file format patrons should use for their models; sometimes, patrons will attempt to upload GCODE files, which are printer-specific and may not correlate to your printer model. If your shop has rules prohibiting the printing of inappropriate items (models protected by copyright, offensive items, weapons, etc), clearly state so on this form.

If you plan to implement a "maker appointment" model where patrons can seek direct advice on their projects from you or your shop staff, you should develop a method of booking appointments to prevent double-booking and manage your shop's human bandwidth. Both Microsoft and Google have methods of creating a booking form that connect to the respective platforms' calendar apps; other online services, like youcanbook.me, offer free tiers for booking pages. If your booking form allows for customizable questions, consider the following for maker appointments:

• Briefly describe your 3D printing project.
• Do you have an STL ready to print, or do you need modeling advice?
• What program did you use to create this model?
• In what ways can the shop best help you with your project?
• Is this project supporting classwork, or is it a personal project?
• Any or all of the questions listed above for a print-on-demand form

Again, try to include as much important information as you can on the form to manage patron expectations regarding what you can and can't print, and what level of assistance you can and can't provide. Make sure, also, that the form is configured to email the patron to give them a record of the time and location of their appointment.

Finally, after your patron's print is complete (which may or may not occur during a maker appointment, depending on the print time), you will need to establish how to deliver the print to them. Recommendations for this can be found in the Managing Prints section of this guide.

Communication with Shop Staff

If you intend to train a "staff" of folks to help you handle 3D printing projects - whether paid student workers or simply designated students in your classroom - it will be important that the team works together to implement a consistent workflow. Be sure to set clear work expectations regarding the operation of equipment, the organization of the work space, and the manner of interaction with shop patrons - preferably in writing. A short handbook that you can give your staff containing shop rules and work rules is helpful, and your staff will be grateful for it. Communication is, however, a process rather than a one-time act. Observe your staff and provide gentle, constructive coaching if you notice their quality of work diverge from expectations, and be certain that your attention and manner of correction is equitable to all staff.

One of the reasons you may consider to train a team to help run your work space is so that your attention can be diverted elsewhere. Your staff need to know how to contact you when they need to ask you a question or they need your support. Be sure to clearly communicate the manner that you would like staff to contact you (email, phone, in person), the expediency with which you can provide a response to them, and the acceptable time frame within which they can communicate with you.

Finally, your staff will possibly be communicating directly with patrons themselves, depending on how you have set up your service model. They should treat such interactions using a customer service approach; they should be polite, inquisitive, and helpful. If you intend for shop staff to directly help patrons with their 3D printing projects (rather than merely print them on-demand), consider communicating boundaries. To expand on this point, shop staff should know what they are expected to be the experts on, and what the patron should be the expert on. Patrons may come to your space with models they downloaded online, or with models that were designed with any number of modeling software; your shop staff can't be experts at all of the modeling software available. They will be experts, though, on your 3D printers and the software that runs them. Enthusiastic shop staff may also, in good faith, tend to "take over" a patron's project; it will be important for staff to be patient with patrons and let them solve some of their own project problems if they should arise. The staff member's primary responsibility will be the final printing step.

If you choose to create a free email account for your shop as recommended above, consider giving your staff access to it. This will protect the privacy of your staff when they communicate with patrons; otherwise, they may be tempted to use personal devices and accounts for shop communication. You can also take advantage of other cloud apps like calendars to set up internal work schedules or cloud-based file repositories; more information on this can be found in the Managing Prints section of this guide.

Privacy and Intellectual Property Considerations

If a patron has created their own 3D model, it is considered their own intellectual property. Modelers can also choose to apply a Creative Commons license to their model; there are many online platforms for sharing models such as Thingiverse, Printables, and MakerWorld that allow users to apply a CC license to their models. When a patron shares an STL model with you, the safest assumption is that they reserve all rights to it. Don't reprint or re-share the model without the patron's written permission, and be sure that this is also communicated with any shop staff you may manage. Don't host patron-submitted models on cloud storage services in such a way that they are freely and publicly available; if you upload them to a cloud storage service (like Google Drive, Box, or OneDrive), make sure that the destination folder is secure and shared only with affiliates of your workshop. GCODE files, which are derivatives of STL models specifically for printing, should also be considered sensitive intellectual property and treated the same way. In fact, it is a good practice to keep patron-submitted STL files only until after they have been printed, and then delete them entirely afterward. If your patrons have emailed their STLs to you as attachments, delete those emails and attachments as well.

Intellectual property concerns extend beyond the patrons' own creations; they may ask you to print a model that they found online and didn't actually create themselves. If you suspect that any such model is within copyright, it's quite appropriate to ask your patron to provide you with a link to the original file so you can determine its license, and refuse to print the model without provenance. It may be a good opportunity to recommend that the patron try their hand at modeling themselves and develop their own skills.