Distributed manufacturing is a real buzz word today. For a few years the word has been bandied about in all manner of ways in discussions about manufacturing. It has always seemed a bit abstract though a fun future idea that no one has taken very seriously.

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Every once in a while there would be a military initiative to manufacture in the battlefield or a green manufacturing idea to make things in an urban environment from waste materials. These trial balloons were just that, trial balloons.

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But now the recent global problems have lead to a reexamination of decentralized manufacturing. Resilient supply chains are now in vogue and a lot of companies are auditing their supply chains to find vulnerabilities. Could decentralized manufacturing actually work? And will 3D printing be the vehicle to make this happen? For what parts is decentralized manufacturing useful? Max and I discuss it in detail […]

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