3 ms·

I don't think it's ever going to compete with injection molding on a cost basis. Edit: That is, where injection molding is applicable today. 3D printers do fil

• digikata 11y ago
  If you stack it up against the just the manufacturing step, I agree completely. But in certain niches, if you compare against the manufacture, transport, inventory, logistics costs etc, then maybe there's a few more areas where 3d printing may be an advantage. If you can actually print structurally usable parts on demand, why dedicate a longer more complex logistics chain. e.g. is there a trade to be made between carrying a network of warehouses full of parts and a printer with a database of those parts right near the consumption point? In all practicality, you can only do this with a very narrow range of parts, even if you could get direct finished looking structural parts out of a 3D printer (which right now, many times you can't exactly ...).