For example: 3D printers that are more amenable to 'short production runs' instead of just prototypes. Low cost / fast turnaround injection moulding. Quick turn around on smaller components.
This already exists in the North American market, I.E. Protolabs
Funny you should mention them I was literally speaking to them this week :)
Protolabs is nothing special really.
The tech everyone uses for 3D printing, for quick turnaround injection moulding ... it's mostly the same old stuff.
3D printing is only good for a few units, unless what your making is very small and very expensive.
Custom moulding is still a big leap - and if there are any iterations (and there will be) it's not cheap.
And all of the 'fine' stuff is still done by hand.
So I see 3 roadblocks:
1) Rapid iteration and availability of component parts
2) True cheap way to get from 10 to 20000 units i.e. before true mass production
3) 'programmable robot hands' i.e. a very easy to program robot arm/hands that is nimble enough to fold and cut fabric, assemble arbitrary things, wipe/clean surfaces.
Well, you can make 100+ high-quality plastic parts a week on a $500 SLA printer (if you can fit at least 5 on the bed, vertically), and the price per part for the material could be below $1/part (the goo costs $70 per liter). At least in theory, that's my plan in the next weeks. PCBs are no issue in smaller quantities, although the setup cost for PCB assembly will add to per unit cost if you are doing less than ~500.
Looks quite saleable to me. Maybe sand blasting would improve the finish.
The real plus China having Taobao.. like eBay, but with every imaginable component you could need, and five different Chinese clones of it at 20% of the original component cost, all available at wholesale prices, in quantities of 1 or 100,000. The Shenzhen markets are still active, but shrinking.. you can usually find more variety, faster, cheaper, online. You can hand your BOM over to an agent on Taobao, and he'll get the parts together for you and ship them over.. it might cost 1/4 of the price of Digikey.
Yes, but in my experience, ProtoLabs is the exact opposite of everything available for <$1 -- they specialize in rapid turnaround, and they want all the money for that kind of rush.
I also found that they aren't all that amenable to finding the most efficient route using stock material. E.g., on one job, I just wanted a stamped or laser-cut hole pattern in stock aluminum, so I specified the stock thickness in that field and commented in the notes what I was seeking. I got back a quote for basically CNC milling the exact part out of billet. Lovely, but completely unnecessary, and it didn't improve chatting with the rep. I would up fabricating the parts out of carbon fiber and CNC cutting the shapes/holes myself (all in-house).
So, yes, I'd say that the Shenzen flea-market mentioned above could be really cool, is definitely not here yet, and is sadly unlikely...
This already exists in the North American market, I.E. Protolabs