The Future of Manufacturing Is In 3D Printing
The 3D printing industry is on the rise, estimated to be already worth more than $5 billion.
In 2016, more than 200,000 desktop 3D printers were sold globally. By 2023, it's estimated the market will grow to be upwards of $30 billion. And now, 3D printers have made their way not only into private homes, but also onto school campuses, and many different commercial spaces.
You can now find 3D printers being used in kitchens, hospitals, on Coast Guard ships, for funeral/cremation services, in a variety of manufacturing spaces, and more.
This includes things like various food items, body parts, shoes, cars, toys, guns, houses, shelves, bolts, buckles, forks, soap dishes, coasters, whistles, chip clips, along with a myriad of other handy gadgets. The impressive and seemingly limitless capability enables this technology to revolutionize many different market spaces.
Manufacturing is one of the big spaces that 3D printing is going to play a major role in revamping. The 3D printing technology has already been credited with being able to do the job faster and cheaper than traditional methods that are on the market today.
In comparison to current methods, the 3D printer is able to carry out the task roughly 100x faster, and be up to 10x cheaper than laser printing.
There are many well-known corporations that have already turned to looking at 3D printing technology to incorporate into their manufacturing methods. These are names like Mercedes-Benz, Boeing, Microsoft, Porsche, Ford, and Volkswagen.
Volkswagen has reported seeing significant cost savings and now they will be looking to further use the printing technology to create car parts for their vehicles.
As well, Ford has said that the 3D printing method is still too slow right now, as far as volume production is concerned, and for that reason it's best used for low-volume, cost-effective, light-weight parts. There is still a lot of potential though, to use this technology in order to boost efficiency for multiple industry spaces.
Pics:
Pixabay
Giphy
Sources:
http://www.thedrive.com/sheetmetal/16374/volkswagen-sees-a-future-in-3d-printing-car-parts
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2017/11/08/3d-printer-farms-and-robotics-start-pointing-to-future-of-manufacturing/#2b457ca7a429
http://www.thedrive.com/tech/8116/fords-large-scale-3d-printing-could-offer-personalized-car-parts?iid=sr-link8
https://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2016/04/25/wohlers-report-2016-3d-printer-industry-surpassed-5-1-billion/#3c2f13a19a02
https://steemit.com/technology/@doitvoluntarily/3d-printing-makes-its-way-into-the-cremation-market
https://www.volkswagenag.com/en/news/2017/11/VW_Brand_investment_transform2025.html
https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/volkswagen-saves-160k-tooling-costs-using-desktop-fdm-3d-printers-116640/
http://www.thedrive.com/tech/8116/fords-large-scale-3d-printing-could-offer-personalized-car-parts?iid=sr-link8
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This could have a huge effect on global trade patterns. Why ship something halfway around the world when you can print it at or near the end user? Why have warehouses filled with stuff when you can print the stuff as needed?
Very interesting future ahead for us. But there will be a lot jobs lost i think.
and many new jobs created :)
excellent post ..loving to your blog.thanks for sharing..
Excellent review of a technology about to disrupt an awful lot of industries. Its creative limitations is still beyond our reach and offers us huge areas of creativity to delve into to explore its potential.
Thanks a lot for another great article of quality for our minds to rethink the redesigning of the concept of creativity. Namaste :)
Very cool topic. I have heard that 3D printers will be a part of our future space trips since they will be able to create tools that may be necessary but not present at any time. Sounds very practical since we can't logically plan for every circumstance we encounter in space unless we have a 3D printer to create custom tools on the go.
The applications of a 3D printer are far reaching and exciting. One step closer to Star Trek replicators.
yes they're really incredible in what they've been able to do so far and how many industries they've been disrupting 😄 thx for your comment and stopping by
3D Printing is the Future ^^ :)
awesome video!
yeah ^^ i was thinking That 3d Printing it's can be used in bad way like " Counterfeiting "
OWLS ARE THE FUTURE
I think it's so amazing pretty soon we will be able to hologram each other instead of facetime, video chat. Anything is possible
haha! wouldn't that be something! 😄
I had said years ago that the internet would bring us back to a cottage industry based economy. I said it in reference to selling merchandise, but 3d printing now offers a flexible manufacturing opportunity. The future will be strange and beautiful.
In Amsterdam they are printing a real bridge :O
that's pretty awesome!
3D printing, or fast prototyping as it used to be known, is not all its cracked up to be. But, it brings new entirely new possibilities to the table.
I can go and program my milling machine to cut a mold out of aluminum, and then I can make a 100 parts with my plastic injection molder in a day.
Depending on the size, the 3D printer couldn't even compete.
But, that injection molded part is really a 2-1/2D part. It has to come out of the mold. It can't have any internal cavities. It has to have sloped sides.
Also, if I wanted to change the part, I would have to do all the design, and mill a new injection mold.
With a 3D printer, you can make one, and then send me the file and I can make one.
If what you need is a replacement part for your doohicky 3000.1a, then with a 3D printer, you just tell it to print one. With an injection mold, you have to go find it. Of course you are using mold 1d now, so where is that hunk of metal? Did you throw it out?
3D printing can't compete with injection molded parts for cost and speed, but it can do things injection molding can't.
thanks for taking the time to read the post 👍😄
Very good reply to put the article into perspective. Was going to reply almost the same. Big companies are indeed using the technologies. But don't really use the print in the end product. Mostly for prototyping and manufacturing tooling. Things that don't need to be made in large quantities.
It’s a fantastic technology, it will be very interesting to see what they will be printing in years to come? Cheers mike