| 摘要 |
3D fabrication and rapid prototyping can quickly produce tightly toleranced arbitrary shapes in single units or small quantities. Yet its adoption has been limited in some promising market areas (for example, medical and dental prosthetics). Such products require diverse specialized process sequences that historically involve multiple vendors in long, close, service-intensive relationships. An online marketplace more evenly balances capacity utilization and negotiating strength within these complex supply chains while allowing preservation of existing relationships and service levels. Marketplace software embodiments enable any member of a supply chain to request a quotation for any stage(s) of a fabrication, invite bids, negotiate, award the project, and track its progress. Participants post, view, and collaboratively edit 3D point clouds generated by measurements or CAD. Options include directories, fora, automated regulatory compliance measures (privacy, long-term archival, data reporting), and structured-light metrology instruments configured to upload editable data directly to the marketplace. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method of facilitating manufacture of a custom article, comprising:
posting a customer's request for quotation on a network, displaying the customer's request for quotation to a vendor using the network, transmitting a bid from the vendor to the customer over the network, relaying a response to the bid from the customer to the vendor over the network, and enabling a three-dimensional point cloud to be uploaded to and downloaded from the network.
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