Joshua Pearce takes unusual satisfaction in strolling through Walmart. The shelves laden with toys, household items, tools and clothing inspire in him a certain smugness, a pride in American entrepreneurship. But it’s not because Pearce admires the chain as an empire built by a self-made man. Pearce swells with pride at Walmart because the store is full of mass-manufactured objects that he could make himself.
“I take great pleasure — and my wife teases me about it — walking though Walmart and saying, ‘I could print that, I could print that, I could print that,’ ” Pearce says.
Pearce is at the forefront of what may be the next manufacturing revolution. Using a technique known as 3-D printing, regular people can now make goods typically produced in huge quantities in factories overseas. Need a mug? A tape dispenser? A chess piece? A pair of shoes? It’s as simple as pressing the print key.