following up a message from Roy J. Tellason to Leonard Erickson:

 RJT> Leonard Erickson wrote in a message to Roy J. Tellason:

 TW>  Yuo are not looking them. first the Very Limited Production no
 TW> matter whjat you think Raises the Price of an Item Significantly.
 TW> FAR more than one would think actualy. Check some time in the
 TW> Industrial Market and see what the difference is in pricing between
 TW> lots of 100 and 100,000

 RJT> I've noticed that sort of thing before,  but have never been too sure
 RJT> about how much that was a factor of distribution and how much it was a
 RJT> matter of manufacture.  When it comes to distribution,  it costs a
 RJT> certain amount to process an order,  no matter what,  so the more of
 RJT> whatever you order the less per item it costs.  Packaging enters into
 RJT> it too,  with the prices per small quantity being understandably more
 RJT> expensive than for large quantities,  or "bulk".  But cost to
 RJT> manufacture?  I'm not so sure. 

 LE> You have to set up "tooling". Circuit board layouts, injection
 LE> molds for plastic cases and parts (at around $10k each!!), etc. The
 LE> cost of those has to be spread over the expected production run.

 RJT> That's why I keep seeing cheaper and cheaper construction in stuff
 RJT> that's commercial,  and it seems to get further and further from
 RJT> anything I'd ever build or assemble myself...

 LE> For a run of of 100, that injection molded case is going to add
 LE> $100 *per unit* to the cost. For a run of 10,000 it adds *1*
 LE> dollar/unit. (actually, closer to 2, since there's a limit to home
 LE> many times you can use the mold).

 RJT> Ain't it nifty that computer stuff has gotten as cheap as it has? 
 RJT> :-) 

Been thinking about this stuff again,  and how technology has pushed all
sorts of things forward,  especially in recent years...

Do you see this as changing,  any?  It would seem to me that technology
ought to be able to push this "barrier" back some,  at the very
least.

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