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Manufacturers and suppliers up and down the value chain will be affected as the use of 3D printing expands over the next decade. As barriers to entry fall, smaller companies will challenge larger manufacturers with new business models that create a competitive advantage. To counter that, larger manufacturers should start preparing now with a situational assessment:Determine the drivers for 3D printing in your industry
Calculate the effects 3D printing could have on the supply chain, manufacturing, assembly, and other areas of the business.
Decide which components will benefit from being redesigned to take full advantage of additive manufacturing approaches.
Not every manufacturing application will be a fit, but companies need to build a strategy, find the sweet spots, and begin exploiting 3D printing within their own unique business contexts before the industry begins changing around them....
Don’t dismiss it as a hobbyist’s obsession. Make it part of your business strategy.
from ears and bras to nano-tech machines, 3D printing will transform business to allow mass customisation and destroy start-up barriers to ideas. However without marketing acumen, finance and entrepreneurial character to grow the business, you may just make a better mousetrap which nobody wants.