????比如一臺3D打印機打印出來的圣誕樹首先是從底部開始打印，然后從下往上一層層地添枝加葉——不管每一層有多復雜都不要緊。由于一棵樹的結構很復雜，因此如果以傳統工藝生產圣誕樹的話，就得分別為樹干、樹枝和每一片樹葉都設計模具，然后把它們組裝起來。

????Shapeways公司的營銷總監(jiān)卡琳?卡米表示，有了3D打印技術后，“沒有任何復雜性可言?！?/p>

????Shapeways工廠所用的打印機是由一家名叫EOS的公司生產的。這些打印機的大小跟一臺大型冰箱差不多，上面有一扇窗戶用于查看里面的情況。筆者進入車間參觀時，看到了打印機里的好幾個正在生產的物品，不過由于是半成品，因此很難看出它們是什么東西。

????打印機旁邊有一臺磨石機，大小跟一個圓餐桌差不多，用來打磨剛打印好的物體的粗糙邊緣。這臺機器開機后，噪音大得讓人想從房間里逃出去。

????最后是用來撿選產品的箱子。這個地方看起來相對冷清些，工廠里的其它地方也一樣，看來深冬季節(jié)的確不是個性化產品的銷售旺季。

????Shapeways公司CEO彼得?魏瑪肖森表示，2009年發(fā)布的Shapeways市場有點像蘋果的應用商店，因為二者都促進了創(chuàng)新精神和創(chuàng)業(yè)精神。魏瑪肖森稱，去年，他的公司售出了120萬件產品，他預計今年這個數額將增長3倍。（但他拒絕透露營業(yè)收入。）

????雖然3D打印的概念時下被炒得火熱，但是只要看看普通美國人的家里和辦公室里就能知道，這項工藝技術還沒有走進千家萬戶。但是美國的許多大制造商都已經用上了這項技術，比如通用汽車（General Motors）和福特汽車公司（Ford）都使用了這項技術以加快設計流程和樣機制造流程。

????3D打印掀起的個性化制造浪潮讓很多人興奮不已。有些熱心于這項技術的預言家認為，3D打印技術甚至可能會讓全球供應鏈顛倒過來，甚至有可能導致地緣政治重新洗牌。另外它也可能讓醫(yī)療設備出現革命性的變革，等等。

????這項技術也吸了不少企業(yè)的興趣。去年Strasys公司收購了MakerBot公司，后者主要生產一款價格相對便宜的臺式3D打印機。這筆交易最后的價值可能會超過6億美元。雖然Makerbot打印機理論上看有可能最終成為一款家用產品，但Shapeways公司走的是一條分散創(chuàng)意、集中生產的路子。Shapeways目前要做的是弄明白怎樣把那些獨特而漂亮的產品賣給那些并不熱衷于3D打印技術的消費者。

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????For example, an artificial tree printed in 3-D would begin at the bottom and add parts of the trunk, branches, and leaves with each successive layer -- regardless of the complexity of each horizontal. Since the structure of a tree is so complex, an artificial tree produced with standard manufacturing technology might involve the creation of separate molds for the trunk, branches, and each individual leaf, and then require assembly.

????With 3-D printing there's "no cost of complexity," Carine Carmy, Shapeways' marketing director says.

????The printers at Shapeways' factory are produced by a company called EOS. The machines are the size of large refrigerators with a window on the front to peer inside. When the author glanced in during a tour of the space, he saw several items under construction -- though it was difficult to make out just what they might be.

????Beyond the printers is a rock tumbler the size of a round dinner table, used to smooth out the rough edges of a newly printed item. When it is turned on, the machine is so loud that you can't stand to be in the room with it.

????At the end of the line, there are bins for sorting. Like the rest of the factory it seemed relatively quiet during a recent visit, suggesting that mid-winter isn't the high season for individualized products.

????Shapeways chief executive Peter Weijmarshausen says the Shapeways marketplace, which launched in 2009, is like Apple's App Store in that both facilitate creative entrepreneurship. Weijmarshausen says his company sold 1.2 million pieces last year, and he expects volume to triple this year. (He declined to comment on revenue.)

????Despite the hype around 3-D printing, you need only look around the American home or office to see that this industrial process has not yet insinuated itself in daily life. But it's already in use by major U.S. manufacturers: General Motors and Ford, for example, both use the technology to speed up the design and prototyping process.

????The prospect of individualized manufacturing has lots of people excited. Some of the more feverish prognosticators say it could upend the global supply chain and reshuffle the geopolitics. It could revolutionize medical devices, and much else.

????And so the technology has attracted business interest. Last year Stratsys acquired MakerBot, which manufactures a relatively affordable desktop 3-D printer, in a deal that could ultimately be worth more than $600 million. While MakerBots could theoretically become household items, Shapeways is instead charting a path of decentralized creativity but centralized manufacturing. Shapeways must now figure out how to sell unique and beautiful items to consumers who don't fetishize the process of 3-D printing.