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I'm really excited about the potential for personal 3D printing. One thing I wonder, though, is how much would actually be made that way. It seems like economie
by losvedir 15y ago
I'm really excited about the potential for personal 3D printing. One thing I wonder, though, is how much would actually be made that way. It seems like economies of scale are such that the current model is more efficient for most products.
You still need the raw materials and the energy to construct the object. Wouldn't large factories specialized for certain products be able to produce them faster, cheaper, and in larger quantities, and by such a margin that doing so and then shipping them still requires fewer resources than everyone individually printing their own?
They're really cool for prototyping or in certain niches, but I can't imagine it taking over all manufacturing.
- jxcole 15y agoI wouldn't cash your chips in yet. We don't really know what's possible in the realm of personal manufacturing. Theoretically, if it costs a certain amount of materials and energy to produce something, producing it in a smaller factory will cost the same but require more fine grained control of the instruments. I don't think that makes it impossible, just challenging and interesting. Also, there is a hidden cost to re-tooling factories for new products that goes away if you can create a factory that can produce anything with the same tools, so you can save there as well.
- HeyLaughingBoy 15y agoproducing it in a smaller factory will cost the same No, it will cost massively more. The factory that builds millions of the same thing has access to pricing and supply chains that are completely out of reach of the factory that builds 100. This is so different that there is really no reason for the smaller factory to build the same thing. They will likely compete on turnaround time, quality, or something the large producer can't do. Any of these will drive their costs even higher.