The Fab Store: Difference between revisions
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Imagine a store equipped with 3D printers and CNC machines capable of fabricating parts made of metal, wood, plastic, rubber, ceramic and more. An expert greets you, examines your broken item, prints out the broken pieces and repairs your item for you. We have the technology and talent available today. If only there were someone to make the store a reality. | Imagine a store equipped with 3D printers and CNC machines capable of fabricating parts made of metal, wood, plastic, rubber, ceramic and more. An expert greets you, examines your broken item, prints out the broken pieces and repairs your item for you. We have the technology and talent available today. If only there were someone to make the store a reality. | ||
== The | ==How Do Fab Store Repairs Work?== | ||
Your friendly neighborhood Fab Store is on a street corner near you. As you enter, a repair expert greets you, examines your broken item and comes up with a plan to fix it. | |||
Your item may just need some adjustment. It may need a new screw or electronic component. It may benefit from a workaround rather than a like-new fix. | |||
Both Fab Stores and traditional repair cafes handle these scenarios. | |||
Broken and/or hard-to-find parts often stymie typical repair cafes, though. This is where Fab Stores shine. | |||
Imagine the wheel of your child's favorite toy truck fell off. The problem is a broken axle. This axle is not a standard part you can replace. But the Fab Store can create a new axle. | |||
The repair expert extracts the broken axle from the toy and scans it with a 3D scanner. The object appears virtually in CAD software, where the expert "repairs" the broken part in the software. Then the expert 3D prints a new axle and installs it in the truck. Your child gets more milage out of their toy and another item is spared from the landfill. | |||
Fab Stores: | |||
* Are a next-level repair cafe where experts 3D print missing or broken parts | |||
* A retailer selling unique and customizable products manufactured one at a time | |||
The Fab Store network maintains relationships with companies suppling standard parts. This means if someone makes a replacement or substitute part, the Fab Store will know about it. With enough demand | |||
Services provided | Services provided | ||
Peop | |||
Equipment | Equipment | ||
Procedures | Procedures | ||
Mail order | |||
==Beyond Repairs: A Small-scale Manufacturing Revolution== | ==Beyond Repairs: A Small-scale Manufacturing Revolution== | ||
| Line 87: | Line 109: | ||
What if cost is more than it's worth | What if cost is more than it's worth | ||
Fab stores have windows with fun items on display | |||
Fab stores have repair experts who can look at something and know how to fix it | |||
3D printers in the store, off-site industrial building for CNC, wood working, anything that involves fumes or noise | |||
Walk ins or set up an appointment online | |||
Browse items, services and learn about it online | |||
Beyond a repair cafe- you're able to fabricate broken parts for things you couldn't otherwise repair | |||
Revision as of 02:55, 28 August 2025
While I give this idea away freely, here's what I'd like if you decide to make my idea come true.
- Own a small percentage of company
- Opportunities for additional, early investment.
Your Neighborhood, Next-Level Repair Cafe
How often have you trashed an entire product because of a single broken part? What if you could simply replace the part, at a fraction of the cost and waste? The Fab Store pairs advanced 3D printing with repair experts to fix previously unfixable items. These stores keep more stuff out of our landfills and more money in your pocket!
In addition, Fab Stores may finally deliver on the promise of a small-scale manufacturing revolution.
To Repair is Rare
Too often, a single broken part means sending the sum of all its parts to a landfill. For example- A hinge broke on my old electric tea kettle, preventing me from closing the lid properly.
You can't buy a new hinge. I wouldn't know how to install the hinge even if I had one.
In cases like this, I can't find a practical solution to repairing my item instead of replacing it.
The Fab Store Expertly 3D Prints Parts and Fixes Products
Imagine a store equipped with 3D printers and CNC machines capable of fabricating parts made of metal, wood, plastic, rubber, ceramic and more. An expert greets you, examines your broken item, prints out the broken pieces and repairs your item for you. We have the technology and talent available today. If only there were someone to make the store a reality.
How Do Fab Store Repairs Work?
Your friendly neighborhood Fab Store is on a street corner near you. As you enter, a repair expert greets you, examines your broken item and comes up with a plan to fix it.
Your item may just need some adjustment. It may need a new screw or electronic component. It may benefit from a workaround rather than a like-new fix.
Both Fab Stores and traditional repair cafes handle these scenarios.
Broken and/or hard-to-find parts often stymie typical repair cafes, though. This is where Fab Stores shine.
Imagine the wheel of your child's favorite toy truck fell off. The problem is a broken axle. This axle is not a standard part you can replace. But the Fab Store can create a new axle.
The repair expert extracts the broken axle from the toy and scans it with a 3D scanner. The object appears virtually in CAD software, where the expert "repairs" the broken part in the software. Then the expert 3D prints a new axle and installs it in the truck. Your child gets more milage out of their toy and another item is spared from the landfill.
Fab Stores:
- Are a next-level repair cafe where experts 3D print missing or broken parts
- A retailer selling unique and customizable products manufactured one at a time
The Fab Store network maintains relationships with companies suppling standard parts. This means if someone makes a replacement or substitute part, the Fab Store will know about it. With enough demand
Services provided
Peop
Equipment
Procedures
Mail order
Beyond Repairs: A Small-scale Manufacturing Revolution
One-off and small batch manufacturing has the potential to explode into mass manufacturing success. Places like the Thingaverse are filled with designs for imaginative items you can't buy in stores. But you can print with them your Fab Store equipment. Lurking among those designs might be the next best-selling product.
Using your existing equipment and talent, you could offer:
- Pre-fabricated products
- User-requested products
- Custom designed products
Pre-fabricated Products: Unique Item Window Shopping
You start by producing a single, intriguing item. Then you put it in the store window. Repeat until your store window is filled with unique and interesting items.
When an item sells, produce another. Maybe two. Increase your production as demand increases.
At some point, enough demand builds to support mass manufacturing. That's when you become the brand leader in the new product space.
The Fab Store network contains the collective wisdom of all Fab Stores on which items sell and which are duds. You decide which products are ready for the big time (mass manufacturing) through this collective data.
Who knows which design might turn into a commercial success? Producing a limited quantity of a wide range of products in search of a winner is a low-cost, low-risk way to discover the next Rubik's Cube, hot jewelry trend or must-have phone case. Imagination is about the only limit!
Nothing lasts forever. It just seems a lot of things should last much longer.
What the Fab Store Does
Repair household items
Fabricate broken pieces
Small-scale, custom manufacturing
Unique, pre-fabricated items for sale
Dump Throwaway Culture
They build exactly what you need for you. They always have better equipment, deeper integration and more supplies than you do at home.
Suggest and advise on variations of original designs. Have a library of customization presets.
Order online. Pick up at the store or ship.
Simply Fab
Next level repair cafes
On every block. Come in and browse finished products (also for sale), chat with a fabbing expert and build something just to your liking.
Repair shops too- building custom parts to replace broken ones
Share designs with other Fab Stores. Perhaps even the public. Example- hinge on tea kettle
What if cost is more than it's worth
Fab stores have windows with fun items on display
Fab stores have repair experts who can look at something and know how to fix it
3D printers in the store, off-site industrial building for CNC, wood working, anything that involves fumes or noise
Walk ins or set up an appointment online
Browse items, services and learn about it online
Beyond a repair cafe- you're able to fabricate broken parts for things you couldn't otherwise repair
Picture - rubber gromet on tea cups.
https://www.3dsourced.com/3d-printers/metal-3d-printer-buyers-guide/
https://all3dp.com/2/silicone-3d-printer-all-you-need-to-know/