Zoidz
Well-Known Member
Yes, but the mold is the wild card. Molds can run $3,000 at the very cheap end to $20,000 or more depending on the complexity of the cavity. With a limited market size initially, if they want to recover a $10,000 mold cost over a run of 1,000 units, that's $10 per piece. Also, prior to COVID, I know that lead time for molds (from US companies I know of) was 2-4 months, so I think this is a pretty good example of where 3D printing gets the product to market quickly and cost effectively.The funny part about that is injection molding is cheaper than 3D printing as a manufacturing technique if you order a high enough volume. Last I was doing custom physical parts ordering the breaking point was in the hundreds of units... not enormous numbers.
All things considered, I don't have a problem with their price point. GM gets $30 - $40 for an injection molded front license plate holder - I had to buy a replacement for my Avalanche, ultimately I found an overstock/closeout on Rock Auto for around $10 plus shipping.
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