OEM Parts: Benefits for 3D Printers
Benefits exist for OEMs who embrace 3D printing parts — including by third parties 3D-printing companies were beginning to create a grey or black market for copies of OEM parts without the automaker’s validation, similar to how Napster created a black market for digital music 25 years ago. Besides the loss of OEM profits, this situation poses risks for an automaker’s consumers. If the grey- or black-market part is produced using methods not up to OEM specs, the component could fail. Automakers could do what musicians eventually did — digitize, distribute and monetize their products. Customers will pursue what’s inexpensive and convenient. “The end users want to take advantage of it". For example, Nissan could sell an authorized $10 digital specification file for a hard-to-find 1977 Datsun clip. A customer could upload that file into a qualified 3D printing device and reproduce the clip with an OEM-approved level of quality. The part might have originally cost 15 cents, but paying...