3D Printing Simplifies Manufacturing In Ways You Didn’t Realize

3d printing, manufacturing, supplier, on-demandWe found an unusual method of leveraging 3D printing technology to simplify the process of manufacturing: Through RFPs. 

What’s an “RFP”? It’s a formal document known as a “Request For Proposal”. They are issued by large companies to their suppliers in hopes of obtaining proposals for producing something. Often such documents can be extremely detailed and complex, as price quotes must account for every single requirement. If features are not specified in the RFP, they won’t appear in the product delivered by the supplier. It’s a way for buyer and supplier to formally agree on what is being done for a specific price. 

In big industry it is common to see RFPs with page counts in the thousands, as all kinds of small details must be specified. Creating, issuing and responding to such monstrous documents takes teams of people on both buyer and supplier sides months or even years to complete. It’s a ton of work. 

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