An interesting piece in the Houston Business Journal written by Molly Ryan contemplates the effect of 3D printing on the city of Houston’s manufacturing sector. Her investigation showed what most non-technical folks soon discover about 3D printing: you can make almost anything, but it will be more expensive than traditional manufacturing techniques. In other words, it’s best for prototypes, one-of’s, personalized items and very short run production pieces.
Not news to us or Fabbaloo readers, but it does beg the question: What existing or new businesses can leverage the ability to produce customized objects at a higher cost than mass produced items? We think people in every city will be soon developing their own answers to that question.
Via Houston BizBlog
There's a lot of really cool high tech niche products where the volumes are too low for injection molding that fit the bill. They're not 100% custom one offs but close to being custom because you're targeting such a small customer base.
There's a lot of really cool high tech niche products where the volumes are too low for injection molding that fit the bill. They're not 100% custom one offs but close to being custom because you're targeting such a small customer base.