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I'm just trying to say that a company relying on "traditional" manufacturing methods can still offer almost half a million different, and mostly obscure, parts.
by zeteo 14y ago
I'm just trying to say that a company relying on "traditional" manufacturing methods can still offer almost half a million different, and mostly obscure, parts. I'm pretty sure they don't have half a million different production lines for that, and most of their stuff is CNC machined. So, if the demand for even more obscure or even completely custom parts ever becomes economically significant, they can probably adapt to supply that need as well, without using any 3D printing whatsoever.
- gallerytungsten 14y agoActually, McMaster doesn't manufacture anything, as far as I know. They are a distributor. (They tend to deliberately obscure this by refusing to tell you the brand name or actual manufacturer of any item they sell in advance.) But back to the main point. The "long tail" type of business I envision is one that manufactures one-offs, or quantities so limited that the volume demand is below the level needed to interest a distributor such as McMaster.