The 3D printer may represent the next development in the industrial sector.
Additive manufacturing, sometimes referred to as 3D printing, is a process that enables the creation of three-dimensional, physical objects from digital images. When 3D printing initially became accessible, it was more of an artifact than a useful tool for producing one-of-a-kind mementos and other remembrances. Nowadays, many individuals can afford 3D printing because of decreased costs and technical improvements, and 3D printers are readily available online. It is already being utilised in a variety of exciting ways, from creating shoes to using them in medicine.
There are benefits and cons, like with every contemporary technical advancement. The ramifications and the current state and potential future of 3D printing will be covered in this essay.
The present circumstance
The market for 3D printing has been expanding consistently over time. According to a survey published in 2014 by both the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and the United Parcel Service, the primary market, which comprises 3D printing machines, printing materials, equipment, and services, grew by at least 30% annually between 2012 and 2014. (UPS).
According to the study “3D Printing: The Next Revolution in Industrial Manufacturing,” two-thirds of manufacturing firms now use 3D printing in some capacity, and 25% had plans to do so in the near future. Prototyping, product development, and innovation were listed as the top three reasons for employing 3D printing by businesses.
According to a survey published by the CTA and UPS, the automotive and consumer electronics sectors use 3D printing mostly at the prototype stage of production, accounting for 20% of all 3D printing revenue. Some businesses, though, are going beyond prototypes. For instance, manufacturers of smartphones have started to employ 3D printing for some components of their products.
With 15% of all 3D printing sales going to the medical business, it is the third-largest 3D printing industry. Ninety-eight percent of all hearing aids sold worldwide are made using 3D printing, which is used by the medical sector to mass-customize items like hearing aids.
Although fewer than 1% of industrial output is produced using 3D printing, this does not mean that a significant section of the manufacturing industry has been displaced.
The pro and con arguments
Prototypes are currently made most frequently using 3D printing since alterations are typically easier to make and less expensive than manufacturing machine resets. This method is ideal for producing items in small quantities, such as handcrafted items like jewelry or specially designed items like prostheses. Millions of 3D printers are being used to manufacture hearing aids and dental crowns.
It’s also perfect for designing complex yet lightweight shapes for expensive things like race cars and airplanes. This is due to the printer only placing materials where they are required. GE has previously made a $1.5 billion investment in this technology to make, among other things, the parts for aircraft engines.
However, experts believe that because 3D printing takes so much time, it is unlikely to become a common practice in the industrial sector. Designing some intricate items can take up to two days. Currently, 3D printing equipment and materials can be expensive, and the diversity of materials available is far less than that of traditional processes.
Kirk Rogers, technical lead of the GE Center for Additive Technology in Pittsburgh, cautioned that additive manufacturing could not totally replace traditional production in his keynote speech at the Canadian Manufacturing Technology Show. He claims that of the parts produced by GE using additive manufacturing facilities, 85% required the use of traditional manufacturing processes, such as machine tools.
What do we anticipate the future will bring?
Although the whole manufacturing industry may not yet be under the control of 3D printing, analysts anticipate the business will develop significantly and reach 32.78 billion dollars in value by 2023.
A number of enterprises have already started researching the sector to find out what prospects exist. Adidas, for instance, has been creating shoe bottoms via 3D printing, sometimes known as “digital light synthesis,” by drawing them completely formed from a liquid polymer. The technique is being employed at a few newly constructed Adidas production facilities in Germany and America to produce one million pairs of shoes annually, which will be sold more quickly than is possible using conventional procedures.
Using 3D printing and a novel method called bound-metal deposition, the price of printing with metal might be changed. Using this technology, things may be produced at a rate of over 500 cubic centimeters per hour, as opposed to just one or two cubic inches per hour using a conventional metallic laser printer.
It is challenging to foresee all of the 3D printing’s effects on production. But given what has already happened in the area and what analysts anticipate will happen in the next years, it’s reasonable to assume that 3D printing hasn’t yet been used to its utmost extent.
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