Ask HN: Will 3D printing make warehouses a thing of the past?

2 pointswonder_bread1 comment

In retail: From mid/late 1900's-2000 it seems the trend was retailers who could spread out their physical locations the fastest to get the most discount stores in front of customers was the winner; Over the last ~20 years the equation seems to have changed to be who spreads out their warehouses full of discounted goods to ship to customers is the winner. Is 3D printing the next trend?

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Lean supply chain management and contract manufacturing is likely the big upcoming trend in this space, as it is easier and cheaper than ever to have experts create the thing that you want or source the components or whatever.

I think the QA as well as fit & finish of 3D printing is not high enough yet (and unclear whether the investment to get to that point is worth it) for mass produced consumer goods. More likely it will spawn a big uptick in hardware ventures (already has) since it also massively reduces the cost of prototyping and can reduce the cycle time of early modeling and prototyping.

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