It’s been an interesting year for RepRap/MakerBot.  We’ve seen demand for parts and electronics increase.  The MakerBot crew reported that for certain components they’ve actually cleaned out every source in the world.  I’m not sure which component they’re referring to, but I suspect it’s the toothed extruder pulley.  I love the idea that MakerBot has created a product garnering such high demand the entire freaking planet ran out of parts.

Can you imagine giving an interview after such an announcement?

• Reporter: Guys, this has been a great year for MakerBot.  What are your plans for next quarter?
• MBI: Gosh, we’ve got so many ideas!  The community has been hugely supportive and their rate of contribution and development has helped us so much.  Right now we’re splitting our time between production and development.  Batch 12, consisting of  about 147 robots, is out the door.  Batch 13 has already started to ship as the parts come in.  We’ve come a long way since the 22 robots of Batch 1.
• Reporter: Fantastic!  What are your plans for Batch 14?
• MBI: Dang, we were hoping you wouldn’t ask that.  Zero.
• Reporter: I’m sorry – zero robots?  Why did demand drop off so suddenly?
• MBI: Quite the opposite – we’ve completely exhausted the entire world’s supply of aluminum toothed pulleys.  We’re hoping to have some custom made, but at this point we’re competing with the Japanese for aluminum.  Some people suggested we start melting down soda cans for the metal.
• Reporter: <incredulous> You’re competing with the Japanese?
• MBI: Not every Japanese person, but the automotive industry, sure.  For a while India looked to be a competitor, but with the strength of the rupee I’m just not expecting that much competition.  We’re far more concerned about the ability of Chinese to scale their production to meet demand.  Fortunately, we think we’ve found a toner cartridge factory willing to switch over to aluminum toothed pulleys.
• Reporter: <even more incredulous> Wait, wait, wait…  You’re concerned about the ability of an economy of one billion people to scale production to meet the needs of a DIY robot kit start up???
• MBI: Concerned is a strong word.  The Chinese ambassador has been leaving us messages about this issue.  When we finally got around to returning his calls he assured us they’re up to the task.  I’d say we’re cautiously optimistic.