Supply Chain and Logistics

Supply chains look out!   There is a new use for 3D printers.  We discovered it today.   It’s so important that I predict in 20 years a 3D printer will be part of every new home built.

We are doing a lot of canning and freezing this year, since the fruit is coming in so heavily.  We need all kinds of jars to freeze stuff in.

We have had to beg and borrow jars from our friends, and unfortunately many of them come without lids!  This is a disaster for the canning operation.

But fortunately, 3D printing can come to the rescue.  The printer below, a Dremel, from Home Depot, costs less than $900 on sale.

With it, I’ll be able to print plastic lids for the jars with little trouble. Just scan the top and threads for the shape, dump in the material, load up the program, and turn it loose.  A lid in just a few minutes.  Heck, I could even print a whole jar and lid, but it would be plastic-like, and we don’t eat food out of plastic-like material, only glass.

With so simple a solution to a household problem like this, no question about the viability of 3D printing.    The whole job is cheaper than my Amazon Prime account, Comcast bill, Verizon cell phone bill, and Homeowners insurance  together!