a thought occurred to me the other day when i was pondering the fact that i am going to have to wait a whole month for my order to come in- what is the time table for further expansion of Shapeways production facilities. it occurred to me that in those thoughts that maybe the creation of Shapeways first non European production facility being in NEW YORK might not be the best idea. i came to this idea with 2 reasons: price and shipping.
price-
there is a great deal of overhead when dealing with working in NEW YORK... form the higher cost of living to the inclusion of a state income tax.
shipping-
even though, i am sure, UPS takes care of the shipping network, there has to be some sort of discount for shipping a product to and from the middle of the country as opposed to the extreme east coast.
with that being said...i can definitely understand the reasoning behind choosing NEW YORK as the first foray into the American production facilities. not least of which is exposure. there is no place on earth that will get more attention than NEW YORK.
now i would like to make a proposal for the future expansion of production facilities... 4 options in fact that might be considered to balance the facility in NEW YORK. starting in the North and heading south:
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma-
pro: centrally located for shipping (there is a large UPS shipping hub in the city), low taxes, low cost of living.
con: low profile, lack of trained workforce
Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas-
pro: centrally located, large number of inexpensive facilities available, lower cost of living, No state income tax, large metropolitan area, larger base of trained workforce.
con: all of the drawbacks of living in suburban sprawl.
Austin, Texas
pro: centrally located, expanding metropolitan area ripe for emerging technologies and cutting edge creativity, large and varied workforce, tremendous growth potential.
con: emerging signs of big city problems
Mexico
pro: centrally located for the Americas, super low production and facility costs, steady workforce, growth potential
con: lack of trained workforce, potential for civil unrest, unreliable shipping solutions
alright... that is my proposal. i would love to hear thoughts on what i wrote and maybe even alternate ideas on the way you think Shapeways should proceed. maybe even more global expansion... imagine if Shapeways expanded into JAPAN or CHINA... that would be totally cool...