Distributed Rapid Manufacturing Using 3D Printers For Disaster Relief (Part1)

I have been thinking about the distributed rapid manufacturing abilities of low-cost, or homebuilt, or open source, etc... 3D printers and how that could be leveraged  react to natural or man made disasters in manner that has never been seen before.

To be honest this idea has been going around in my head for sometime, ever since the massive 2011 earthquake off the coast of Japan and the ensuing tsunami that followed it.  My employer sent out daily updates to the employees keeping us updated about the current status of our facilities in Japan and the conditions of our distributors in country.

I was amazed to hear the stories from the distributors, hours after the disasters struck they were checking on the well being of their customers and bring them supplies if needed.

So, that got me thinking. What if you could create a object that could be rapidly manufactured with 3D printing that could be deployed hours after a disaster hit, from nothing to something, in a hour.  For example, lets say I create design for a water filter that requires a 3D printer, some gravel, sand, and activated charcoal. I post the needed digital files, bill of materials(BOM), instructions, etc... on thingiverse where now anyone that has the needed equipment and material can make that same water filter.  So, let's a disaster  hits somewhere in the world. I have the 3D printer, the gravel, sand, and activated charcoal, and I start producing water filters on demand for the disaster relief.  

Now, lets scale this up by 10X, 100X, 1000X, etc... It would be not unlike how amateur HAM radio operators are tapped during emergencies. These "rapid factories" are geographical independent. They could be where the disaster has happened, 1000 miles away, across the ocean, etc.... But, do to the digital design files, BOM, and instructions, the device would be nearly the same. Imagine the impact that would have. Crowd sourcing devices to aid in disaster relief. However, a couple of MAJOR things still need to be ironed out, the distribution and quality control of said devices.

I will touch on the distribution and quality control issues in a post in the next couple of days. But, for now digest the post, I welcome any comments or suggestions too.