cq-marketing

repost from www.formlabs.com Judging by most mass-produced products on the market today, you’d think humans come in just three sizes. We don’t. So why don’t the products we buy reflect that? Custom products perform better and consumers embrace them, but custom manufacturing is often not economical. Collecting personalized data from consumers is tricky, custom tooling is expensive, and tracking customized parts from initial order through production and shipping is complex. 3D printing is changing everything. Falling costs and innovation in materials have made 3D printing practical for manufacturing—and promise to bring the dream of mass customization into reality. Economically Manufacturing Custom Products Tailor-made items perform better, plain and simple. A truly custom-fit earbud can provide unparalleled long-term wear, comfort, stability, and noise reduction. Advancements in scanning technology paired with accessible, high-quality 3D printers make it viable to manufacture custom earbuds and other audiology products at scale. Manufacturing with 3D printing makes producing on-demand custom earbuds a reality. Though it’s not a silver bullet, 3D printing removes many of the challenges traditionally associated with mass-producing custom products: 3D printing is a zero tooling production process–there’s no need to produce thousands of the same item to recoup the initial cost [...]