3DP 101

As The Internet Is Now To Media, 3D Printing Will Be To Manufacturing

This 3DP 101 collection is designed to support your DIY and DIT (Do-It-Together) efforts at personal and community betterment via 3DP.

If you are in the business of making things (or want to be!), you must now consider what impact 3D Printing (aka Additive Manufacturing) and Digital Fabrication (all together what we now call “3DP“) will have on your enterprise (or the startup you hope to found!).

Furthermore, you should consider that impact SOON. The revolution that 3DP is beginning to drive will disrupt the obvious players…and the not so obvious ones. Regardless of your industrial category, you need to be ready. The effect of 3DP—on you and everyone else—will accelerate quickly.

No commercial industrial entity–no business that produces and/or sells things–will be safe from this commercial revolution. Regardless of how cleverly positioned, well established or profitable your company is, Mr. or Ms. Small Business Owner, you need to consider–carefully–how 3DP will affect your enterprise. Either directly or indirectly—because 3DP WILL do so…

Now, 3DP is exploding as a new commercial change-vector—with profound business implications for EVERY organization…large or small. Retail or industrial.

Rapidly evolving 3DP has already created a “maker” economy. (E.g., Shapeways has 10,000+ clients selling their own 3DP’d objects from individual “Shops” associated with the Shapeways’ online Community.) Personalized fabrication is beginning to change small-scale manufacturing with customized runs-of-one. And, it will do the same for retail businesses—directly (in-house goods creation) or indirectly (business relationships with many more local vendors of customer-bespoke or marketplace super-niched goods).

Besides the enhancement of small-business commercial success, my 3DP Empowerment goals include community economic development. (I see this as DIY empowerment from the bottom up, NOT government or non-profit-funded development from the top down.) Small-biz success most often leads to hiring. I agree with (now nearly forgotten 2013) NYC mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion, Jr. when he says:

“We are a city of small businesses; 75% of new jobs are created by small business. And we understand that the best social program is a job.”

Given my slightly wider view, let me riff a little on Mr. Carrion’s statement with this: The best DIY empowerment is founding a startup; the next best is creating a job for yourself — through your manifest solution-making — in an existing business. Makers have the opportunity to do either one…and more.

This opportunity-grasping leads to wealth building and wealth retention in our local communities. AND, a virtuous upward spiral of civic betterment: our commonweal furthered.