Patent ID: 8412588

Claim:
A system for providing fabrication of a product on demand, the system comprising: at least one physical data repository configured to store a manufacturable model, the manufacturable model comprising electronic information providing a three-dimensional representation of the product; and a physical computer system programmed to use data from the at least one physical data repository to: generate a first display page for presentation to a user of an electronic catalog system, the first display page including information about the product, the information indicating that the product, the manufacturable model, or both are available for selection via the electronic catalog system; electronically receive, from a user, a request to obtain the product or the manufacturable model; in response to a request from the user for the product, communicate information related to the manufacturable model to cause the product to be produced based at least in part on the information related to the manufacturable model; in response to a request from the user for the manufacturable model, electronically communicate to the user information related to the manufacturable model; wherein the physical computer system is further programmed to: validate the manufacturable model based on at least one of: (1) verifying that the manufacturable model represents a three-dimensional representation of the product, (2) verifying the manufacturable model's representation of product dimensions or configuration, (3) verifying the manufacturable model's representation of material tolerance, or (4) testing simulated response of a model of the product to environmental conditions; and, generate a second display page comprising information about at least one of the product or the manufacturable model, the second display page presentable to the user but not to other users of the electronic catalog system.