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State of the art of on-demand manufacturing?

Greetings,

I am a technology buff and a bit of an entrepreneur. I have recently founded four start-up companies. We engage in research, development and commercialization of environmentally advantageous products, services, processes and systems.

I see a need to be able to create rapidly anything that can be conceived of by designers in 3D form. Obviously this technology exists. Then I got to thinking, if we can make, on a prototype basis, (just about) anything we can conceive of, why can't we build a manufacturing technology or plant that can make (just about anything) we wish to make on a manufactured scale? What I am trying to say, can't we extend the concept of rapid prototyping to that of rapid manufacturing, and if so can we not create manufacturing facilities that can make what ever our customers would like us to make for them on say community or regional basis?

This idea intrigues me as I have been playing with the notion of a distributed manufacturing model, wherein materials can be locally sourced and manufactured into products that meet many, if not most of a community's needs.

What is the state of the art of rapid form manufacturing? Are there facilities that can take a rapid prototype design and just as rapidly go into production? This might seem overly simplistic, but as an entrepreneur, I look for visionary opportunities to create wealth and jobs via the mind and its capacity to create solutions to our problems or needs.

Is there a close-to-commercializable model of this idea and if so can you point to it in some manner or form? I would like to establish a rapid prototype and rapid manufacturing facility in my area.

I look forward to your reply.

Thank you,
DD

DD:
Thanks for your letter. Comments within the body of your text below:

I am a technology buff and a bit of an entrepreneur. I have recently founded four start-up companies. We engage in research, development and commercialization of environmentally advantageous products, services, processes and systems.

I see a need to be able to create rapidly anything that can be conceived of by designers in 3D form. Obviously this technology exists. Then I got to thinking, if we can make, on a prototype basis, (just about) anything we can conceive of, why can't we build a manufacturing technology or plant that can make (just about anything) we wish to make on a manufactured scale? What I am trying to say, can't we extend the concept of rapid prototyping to that of rapid manufacturing, and if so can we not create manufacturing facilities that can make what ever our customers would like us to make for them on say community or regional basis?

This idea intrigues me as I have been playing with the notion of a distributed manufacturing model, wherein materials can be locally sourced and manufactured into products that meet many, if not most of a community's needs.

***EG: Of course this is happening - on scales ranging from the very small to very large - but solving the engineering problems is a non-trivial process. You can get the world's most complete and up to date assessment of the state of the art in rapid manufacturing here:

http://home.att.net/~castleisland/rm_c.htm

Pay particular attention to the last section of the above, and to IP developments. That's where this stuff is actually described. Get highlights here:

http://home.att.net/~castleisland/rec_pat.htm

What is the state of the art of rapid form manufacturing? Are there facilities that can take a rapid prototype design and just as rapidly go into production? This might seem overly simplistic, but as an entrepreneur, I look for visionary opportunities to create wealth and jobs via the mind and its capacity to create solutions to our problems or needs.

***EG: In some limited cases, yes - and you are taking a simplistic view. Engineering is the link between economics and science and it has to make financial sense to solve problems before someone does the work. That's why most applications today are for high value-added parts that can be produced by existing processes in an adequate fashion using today's technology.

Is there a close-to-commercializable model of this idea and if so can you point to it in some manner or form? I would like to establish a rapid prototype and rapid manufacturing facility in my area.
I look forward to your reply.

***EG: Learn more about what this is all about before founding anything. Doing is harder than dreaming up. Focus on bucks in and bucks out issues, especially. The time frame in the above description by you is probably decades, and you need to find an application that produces money in a year. Not so easy.

Regards,

Ed Grenda
Castle Island Co.
The Worldwide Guide to Rapid Prototyping

Hi Ed,

Thank you for your comments and introductory materials. I realize the full extension of this thinking is years (perhaps decades) away - and most future visions are realized in baby steps and require supporting economics to fuel their development.

I also know about the process of taking big ideas and drilling down through their engineering challenges and conceiving various business models required to make something possible - that is what I do.

Whereas none of the processes you describe are trivial, I am sure, "dreaming something up" is absolutely an essential step as well and having the fundamental understanding that "our world is as we dream it" is a very powerful construct that can shave years off of the development of disruptive technologies.

I look forward to learning more about this topic and will get back to you, if I have additional questions.

Talk to you soon.