Tag: Outsourcing

From golf clubs to firearms, pharmaceuticals to trainers, 3D Printing is disrupting the manufacturing process of an increasing number of products. But what are the long-term implications for the supply chain as a whole?

It’s a common misconception that 3D printing is something new. Although the processes and thinking for it have been around for a number of years, it’s taken a while for the technology to catch up and allow wider functionality and usage.

As a procurement and supply chain professional, this opens up a world of possibilities – a world of potential cost savings as a result of lower manufacturing costs and a centralised supply chain. Of course this isn’t going to happen overnight, but organisations can start to think differently.

3D Printing is a revolution that changes two important economic equations – insourcing/outsourcing, and the globalization/localization equation.

It tips the balance between insourcing and outsourcing of manufacturing in favor of insourcing. And it tips the balance between globalization and localization in favor of localization.

In the pre-3D Printer era, outsourcing —  the transfer of a number of business activities to third parties either at home or abroad — allowed companies to improve efficiency, cut costs, speed up product development, and focus on their “core competencies.” It helped American companies address the destructive forces of globalization; that is, the intensification of competition and the price and profit erosion that followed it.

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