One of the dramas with relying on large scale, centralized manufacturing is that economies of scale generally produce a worse consumer experience.

Economies of scale are a big reason why everyone doesn’t drive a custom designed car. Economies of scale are why you have to buy 100 pipe hangers when you only need 10.

Decentralized manufacturing could offer less trade off between efficiency and consumer experience.

You could order just 10 pipe hangers. Yes, they might be five times more expensive than buying 100 of them, but you’d be buying one tenth of the volume. So the overall cost would be lower.

3D printing, CNC machines, and even backyard forges could be the manufacturing industry of the future.