Developing and manufacturing toys fuels my interest in learning about 3d printing. I am intrigued with the manufacturing ease it presents and “the ability to make things from your desktop without your having any tools of your own or stepping into a factory.” This line from the Maker book sums up 3D printing’s appeal.
When I was making toys, my business model required expensive molds, costly letters of credit, high factory-imposed minimum order quantities, custom broker contracts, container-load overseas shipping costs, warehousing expenses and unreliable product sales forecast. 3D printing upends and disrupts that process.
It presents the ability to manufacture in small batches, design a product using software, test variations on a design without mold cost, manufacture against demand, use low cost equipment or order online, customize items according to individual consumer’s specification and provide a better customer experience.
These factors make reentering the toy business a possibility for me. The lack of high capital cost and the ability to test market makes experimenting easier.
Currently in the toy business, children have been empowered as the designers. They can select the design they want, change it to their liking and print it at home. Likewise, people are able to have their exact images produced as toys. 3D printing allows for children to live out their fantasies by having a replica of their face imposed on the body of their hero or heroine.
By manufacturing with 3D printers, small companies are able to find their niche without heavy marketing and promotions costs and one can make “mistakes” without it being financially crippling.
Moreover, 3D printing permits toys products to come to market faster limited only by the ideation process and the computer-aided design.
While the 3D printers have opened up many manufacturing possibilities for toys, the one area that seems to be lacking is the access to CAD designers. For a novice, the software is hard to learn. I would like to find the network of freelance CAD designers who can help take ideas and create the 3D mdel needed to get them produced.
These are the sources I have used:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ehrlichfu/2013/10/29/our-future-with-3-d-printers-7-disrupted-industries/
http://venturebeat.com/2013/08/20/coca-cola-3d-printing/#RSDEmM0Cku4iLbSt.02
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/421470/how-3-d-printing-is-transforming-the-toy-industry/
