3D Printing

3D Printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is the process of creating 3D models using additive materials. This is done with the help of computers, various instructions and raw materials are given to the computer and special 3D printers attached and the result is an object of almost any shape and geometry. 3D printing has become an important stage in business revolution. Although the first 3D printer was created by Charles Hull in 1984 at 3D Systems, but the major advancements and applications of this technology has been very recent and are still in the evolution stage. The first high definition colored 3D printer was developed recently in 2005 by Z Corp. 3D Systems, ExOne, HP and ZCorp are the market leaders who are investing in this technology. Microsoft and Google are the market leaders in terms of providing compatible software and hardware for the same. (Aspa, 2018)

3D printing typically involves creation of a virtual design of the object by using CAD (computer aided design) file. This CAD file is made with the help of a 3D design program or with the help of a 3D scanner. The modelling program breaks the 3D design into “slices” or layers which are 2D in nature, which are then combined in a seamless manner by the 3D printer to form a final 3D object. There are three main types of methods which are being used for 3D printing, viz, selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SL) and fused deposition modelling(FDM). Many companies now are focussing on 3D printers which can do inbuilt 3D scanning like Microsoft and Google. Companies are also embedding 3D scanning in handheld devices like smartphones etc, so 3D printing is becoming are the more accessible to even common people.

The benefits of 3D printing are innumerable and unlimited. Apart from producing highly precise and accurate objects, speed is also very fast with these kind of printers. These are easy to use with no technical expertise required, and can produce objects of very complex nature as far as geometry is concerned. This is one of the cheapest way to produce and people at remote locations can benefit a lot as many things which are not accessible to them can be produced like this with utmost ease by themselves altogether. Experimenting for new product evolution would become easier, cheaper and convenient. Although 3D printing is revolutionizing all kinds of industries, some of the main target consumers for 3D printing are discussed below:

Medical Industry: The most beneficial and important use of 3D printing is in medical industry for the production of implants and prosthetics.

Aerospace and Aviation Industry: 3D printing is being  utilized here for the production of different parts of various flying objects. It is very useful for NASA as the production there has to be very precise and controlled, being highly complex at the same time. Models and prototypes can be quickly created using this. Furthermore instead of carrying backups, NASA scientists are trying to evolve a 3D printer which can be taken and can be functional in space zero gravity environment, so that they can produce parts in events of emergency and avoid a number of spaceship breakdowns and collapses happening above the earth. This is going to be a major achievement once developed.

Industrial Printing: Broader public can also benefit from 3D printing, as it will be very easy to use once it is developed completely. Smaller business and even end users will be able to create their own products. There would be no need to collaborate with partners.

Supply Chain: is going to change because end consumers or middle partners of the chain could manufacture their own products and as such the need of large warehouse and stock maintenance costs would fall down.

Food: 3D printing can be used here to apply layers of pastes, cheese, creams etc on muffins, pastries etc. Cakes are being manufactured using this technology these days which is a new craze among many parts of the world.

Gaming: All types of toys can be created using 3D printing, even animated characters are being produced using this technique of printing.

Architecture: models can be easily created, complex structures or just parts of those can be created with uniformity applying 3D printing.

However, there are also some disadvantages associated as of now with this type of printing. The process in itself is slow, the strength of the objects produced is also not very good, as raw materials which can be used till date are limited. Further, there is high cost of the raw materials which are used now, so the overall cost of the object goes up high. The initial cost of buying a 3D printer is also very high as the idea is still in the evolutionary stage. 3D printing, it seems, will only be able to replace specific, customized printing, but mass production would still be irreplaceable due to economies of scale achieved via large factories.

Opinion:

Although very expensive for common people as of now, but I feel that 3D printing is going to revolutionize the way businesses are done, because it is going to make the end users self sufficient to produce things on their own! The technology now starts at somewhere Rs 6 lakh for a low end printer going upto some crores of rupees if we want to avail high end technology. This would certainly fall down in the future. Then there would be no dependency for objects whose raw material is cheap and readily available. Furthermore, even  if the end customers buy from market, the prices are going to drop down like anything! So the manufacturing industry will undergo a paradigm shift. Even functional and movable 3D products might be possible in the future which will totally improve how prosthetics are manufactured. Probably such printers can print human organs in the future! And maybe complete replicas replacing cloning. This is a fantasy or can turn into reality, only time would tell!!