Day by day the COVID-19 outbreak is becoming more widespread and affecting manufacturing globally. China, which represents 16% of the world’s [GDP], has over 80,000 confirmed cases and counting. Companies in China are being forced into implementing policies that are requiring employees to stay home, shutting down manufacturing plants completely, and ultimately, halting manufacturing altogether. As a company in the United States that has relied on a supply chain from China, you may be asking yourself, what do you do now? How do we stay ahead of the curve to keep our supply chains running? The answer lies with your local 3D Printing service bureaus.
In recent years, 3D Printing service bureaus have quickly emerged across the United States with rapidly advancing technology. Once thought of as a strictly prototyping tool, 3D printing has now evolved into end-use production. Engman-Taylor has invested heavily into these 3D industrial production machines and many of the production materials, allowing swift action to tend to customer needs and applications. As an alternative to injection molding, 3D printing has been utilized for lower-higher volume parts, or for reducing inventory and tooling costs. HP has 
partnered with Engman-Taylor’s 3D Parts Unlimited to make thousands of parts at a time with properties that are similar to injection molding. Other applications have included tooling, prototyping, and obsolete machine repair parts.
Supply chains have experienced significant disruption due to the Coronavirus. Consult your local 3D printing service bureau to discuss your project; eliminating any further disruption in receiving end use parts and to bridge production while parts from China are halted. Stay ahead of the curve and get your company acquainted with 3D printing. 3D printing is the way to keep your supply chain afloat in the coming months amid the Coronavirus outbreak.