Leapfrogging with Additive Manufacturing

Peter Marsh writing in the FT about the potential of 3d printing:

The techniques of (of additive manufacturing) also potentially level the playing field for those who missed out in earlier periods of manufacturing development. Professor Brent Stucker of the University of Louisville in Kentucky says one of the most significant effects will be a re­duction in the amount of conventional industrial infrastructure – machine tools, testing equipment and related factory hardware – that companies and countries require if they are to be considered serious industrial players.

via Dedicated Follower

“It will make it easier for nations in the early stages of industrial development – such as in Africa – to leapfrog the conventional route towards building up production capabilities and make a valid contribution to global manufacturing much earlier than would have been regarded possible,” says Prof Stucker.
Such opportunities should also be open to smart individuals, says Prof Stucker. Although the competitive advantages of large and well organised global manufacturers will remain, the new ideas will usher in a return to prominence of the artisan production worker – a breed that in most rich nations has become almost extinct since the demise of the blacksmith.

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