With the extensive application of 3D printing (3DP) in smart manufacturing, 4D printing (4DP), which enhances 3D printed objects with shape morphing ability by using smart materials, has shown significant industrial potential and attracted tremendous attention. One key concern of 4DP is how to effectively and quickly meet different production and application requirements considering the complexity of materials and diversity of stimulus methods. In order to provide a general research platform for 4DP researchers, a flexible 4DP service platform is proposed. Components and modules for building 4DP and test systems are modeled and virtualized to form the different resources. These resources are then integrated virtually or physically to provide some basic functions such as a 3D displacement stage or a visual monitoring system. According to different 4DP requirements, these functions are then encapsulated into services to serve different research. The platform enables a variety of 4DP applications in smart manufacturing environments such as 4D printed magnetic medical robots, test platform for studying the 4DP response, etc. A case study on designing a ferromagnetic 4DP platform based on the service platform is performed to prove the feasibility of the method.