Do you prefer to work from the Cloud mode, or would you rather work in Lan-Only mode?
Since this original post was almost 2 years ago are there solutions out there now that cover everything requested?
Are there new needs since things have changed since then?
I ask because I have my own windows-based app for logging print jobs. I have been thinking about adding the ability to handle the upload and printing from is as well. The features requested seem pretty logical and could probably be implemented in Lan-Only mode.
Great ideas. I would like to see my printing history on Bambu Studio. I resize almost every print and would like to be able to pick it from printing history right into Studio rather than seardhing through recent projects.
Reviving an old thread — apologies, but it’s still the best discussion of this I’ve found, and I think there’s a half of the problem nobody here has touched.
Twenty-three replies, and every one is about getting jobs onto printers — queueing, dispatch, picking the machine. Fair enough, that’s the loud pain, and it’s why Printago, AutoFarm3D, 3DPrinterOS and the open-source tools in this thread all exist.
But @umairrafiq13 (30 P1Ps), @PombergerGoisern (28), @isaac.crofts (13) — once the job is running, what are you using for the other half? Specifically: how do you know what filament you actually have on the shelf, and what a finished part cost you?
I run 8 (2× H2C, 3× Snapmaker U1, X2D, 2× A1) and dispatch was never what broke for me — it was running out of a colour mid-order and not finding out until a printer stopped. I’ve ended up with a spreadsheet I don’t trust.
Genuinely asking, not selling: is that a real problem at 30 printers, or does it just stop mattering once you’re buying filament by the case?
That’s an fllament inventory issue. I once suggested to Bambu to make a hand-held tag reading device that is linked to a moble inventory for filaments and parts. Users can scan a roll of filament (or a part), then select “add to” to “deduct” from the inventory.
Even if BL makes that product, it is still up to the users to not forget to scan though.
I don’t have a print farm, but for my most commonly used filaments, I have at least 3 months worth in stock at any time. Maybe building up a good inventory for your most comonly used filaments?
@kartzy it’s a real problem, and buying by the case doesn’t make it go away, it just moves it: the case tells you that you have white PLA, not that the white spool in AMS 2, slot 3 has 40 g left for a 120 g plate.
What fixes most of it in my experience:
Track grams per spool, plus where the spool is (shelf, dryer, or which printer and slot).
Take each print’s grams off the spool that was actually in that slot, automatically. Anything typed by hand drifts within a week.
Set a minimum per material, so you get a warning before the order instead of finding out when the printer stops.
For what a part costs: filament grams × what you paid for that spool, plus electricity, machine time and labour. Log failed prints separately, otherwise their filament disappears into the average.
Disclosure: I’m the developer of 3D Print Manager, which does the above for Bambu Lab, Prusa and Klipper (a small desktop Agent reads the jobs and deducts per AMS slot): Filament Inventory & Management Software: Auto AMS Tracking
Even if you stay with the spreadsheet, points 2 and 3 are the ones that make it trustworthy.