Manufacturing-as-a-Service: Dawn of a New Horizon?

摘要

MANUFACTURING IS CHANGING. Never mind the remarkable utility of 3D scanning, the customization capability of additive manufacturing, or the facile methods of rapid prototyping-there's a whole new way of using cloud computing to disseminate design information instantly. Potentially, it provides a new chapter in the way we manufacture everything. Welcome to contract manufacturing-also known as manufacturing as a service (MaaS). "For decades now, companies have shifted from vertically integrated design, engineering and manufacturing, to relying on external contract manufacturing partners," says Andrew Edman, industry manager for Product Design, Engineering and Manufacturing with Formlabs in Somerville, MA.