Amazon wants to reduce inventory by installing 3D printers on delivery trucks

Mega online retailers like Amazon have practically mastered the art of fast shipment, delivering products in average of two days (for Amazon Prime subscribers). But for all its worth, the delicate dance between warehouse stock and delivery fan can be further reduced if Amazon were able to make items on-demand, directly on the delivery trucks themselves. A recent patent application from Amazon insinuates the company has its eye on 3D printing as new way of replacing the traditional warehouse model.

The patent suggests that once a consumer orders the item, printing instructions are sent to the closest available 3D-printing truck and device combination, before delivering the freshly made device when it’s finished. 

Why would it want to accomplish this in the first place? The most obvious motive is to reduce time delays been receiving and order and shipping the item, but more importantly, to reduce inventory costs. This is especially paramount when dealing in electronics goods as their value is far more susceptible to depreciation than that of none-digital items.

Such an outlandish venture should come as no surprise from the likes of Amazon, whose innovative logistics research has taken the shape of drone deliveries and sprinkling 1-Click buttons throughout your home that makes restocking on food/toiletries as easy as pressing a button, even if none of these ideas have yet to flourish.

Nevertheless, the patent should not be interpreted as a clear confirmation that the company is definitely moving into 3D printing. Large companies frequently file patents as a means of exploring innovative concepts, even if these concepts are not fully implemented. While this particular patent lists numerous additive and subtractive manufacturing methods, the odds of producing complex items being in this way while on-route for delivering is extremely slim in the near future, even if Amazon has been closely collaborating with Mixee Labs to deliver 3D-printed items . What’s more realistic, however, is if the company produced single-piece 3D-printed items like plates, shower rings, phone cases and tooth paste squeezers. 

Source: ExtremeTech via US Patent & Trademark Office