alt Hacker NewsFascinating. I assumed that most manufacturing machines can be reconfigured to build anything that machine can handle physically (i.e. not a particularly specialized machine) and, therefore, can be bought for cheap, or used. Coming from software I don't have a frame of reference for manufacturing cost.
Reconfiguerable is common but high cost. most jigs are custom made one offs at high cost. every bit of flexibility will cost you tens of thousands at minimun and millions on the high end. The parts are at most $100, it the engineering and skilled machinist time that adds up.