3D printing has been there for a while. Still, it has not got the traction it deserves. Its lack of adoption can be attributed to two factors; we tend to associate it with normal printer or some Sci-fi stuff that is still used in laboratories, many of us have not seen the product working. We need to shed these biases and get little more informed. The product deserves to be in consumer’s preferred gadgets lists. If your 3 year old son is asking for a tiger with elephant’s head , simply 3D print one. Yes, 3D printing is that simple.
And it is affordable too. You could do your basic household manufacturing using a 3d printer of Rs. 18000. This includes small crockery items, toys, fittings etc. If you intend to do small artefacts a 3D printing pen worth Rs 3000 would suffice. Watch some YouTube videos of how this is done and buy one 3d printer which meets your requirements. There are many Indian firms selling such printers and some have even listed in Flipkart and Amazon.
This is the future of manufacturing and rooted in emerging marketing idea of co-creation. Co-creation includes customer participating with the firm in product creation. With the evolution of 3D printing, firms can shed the manufacturer role and can take the role of facilitators in co-designing. We should watch and wait to see how firms transform themselves in this emerging paradigm. For now, let us own a small 3D printer and start building our household basics.