Late last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a patent filing by Amazon outlining a method of 3D printing on-demand that could save the company money in a number of different ways.
Here's a summary for the patent filing: when a consumer orders something on Amazon.com, the printing instructions are then sent to the nearest 3D-printing device and then shipped out to the consumer once it's finished.
What's interesting is that the 3D printer itself could potentially be in a warehouse or even a delivery truck. This means you theoretically could order something online and the item could be produced in the same truck that sends it to you within a couple of hours. Pretty cool right?
We don't know for sure if Amazon will actually start putting 3D-printers into delivery trucks anytime soon yet. Amazon hasn't even discussed the patent with anyone publicly.
Big companies tend to file patents all the time that they never plan on actually using as a way to keep options available. It would be a shame though if the company isn't able to incorporate the plan in some capacity even if it takes a couple of years to get it up and running.
Click here to read the entire patent online.
The news shouldn't come as any surprise to Amazon customers after it was reported that the company was working with Mixee Labs to send 3D-printed items out to customers, a relationship that has continued to work well so far this year.
The idea of 3D printers being installed in delivery trucks sounds a little safer than say installing them in Amazon drones at least. A world where Amazon products are being 3D printed from the sky only to fall 10,000 feet shortly after is not fun to imagine.
So what do you think of Amazon's patent filing? Do you think a 3D printing and delivery process would be a good idea? Would you pay extra to have an item delivered the same day?
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