Manufacturing - You can

Manufacturing has always been a costly business, in that there is the process of design, creating molds and masters and assembly line manufacturing.  High costs requiring large volume.  One offs, you can forget it.  

However, think about the inkjet printer. 

Now there are specialized manufacturers that offer the ability to “print” simple 3D models.  Just upload your model to a website and for only a few bucks, you can have your design created on demand.

The printer works by laying down a thin layer of a polymer, then a thin layer of glue, then another thin layer of polymer, ad infinitum, in a technique borrowed from the conventional inkjet printer – it is akin to printing image on top of image until the ink begins to build up into three dimensions. Until recently, though, the technique has only worked with plastics, and so there were real limits to its applicability.

However, recently Shapeways.com ( http://www.shapeways.com/ ) the availability of stainless steel printing which is ideal for prototyping new mechanical parts, one-of-a-kind art or jewelry projects, or even selling small quantities of such items manufactured on demand.

But the long-term implications are endless. No more discontinued parts.  The barriers of entry to a new manufacturing startup just got much lower.