3D Printing: Manufacturing Revolution - Assignment Example

?3D Printing: Manufacturing Revolution An exciting new emerging technology is the concept of 3-dimensional printing. This has the potential for not just changing manufacturing, but all aspects of daily life for the everyday consumer. While at least some of the hype may be a result of the hype cycle, at the very least, 3D printing will be a big deal for manufacturing. 3-dimensinal printing, as the name indicates, is the technique of creating 3-dimensional models of objects using materials such as rubbers, plastics, wood pulp, ‘wood flour’ and tough ABS polymers and metals. It does so by creating a 3D model of the desired object layer by layer. More research is underway to utilize a diverse array of materials in creating 3-dimensional objects through 3D printing technology. These materials include metals and even living tissues (Mironov, 2003, p.158) The idea has little in common with traditional 2-dimensional printing, which is based in printing of documents and paper. With a 3D printer a full object is manufactured by the device using raw materials instead of ink and paper. The concept is essentially the same as many of the other rapid prototyping techniques available in the market. The printing device has a reservoir of any desired material and a curing or shearing mechanism. The material from which the object is to be made is generally in the form of a liquid or powdered solid. The material can be anything from wood pulp to liquid polymer. The curing mechanism is similar to an inkjet print head. A bonding agent such as glue or epoxy resin, instead of ordinary ink, is emitted from the nozzles of this print head and is deposited on the object material. The shearing mechanism will be used in machines which use layers of paper or solid polymer cut and then glued together in desired shapes layer by layer. The movement of the print head is controllable in three dimensions. It makes a two dimensional projected image of the required object in adjacent planes as the print head moves in the vertical direction. The super position of all these images thus creates a 3-dimensional model of the object with the cured polymer or any other desired material. A huge variety of complex shapes can thus be created with great accuracy and in a short time. A typical machine can have a planar resolution comparable with a laser printer and can deposit layers as thin as 0.1 millimeters. The material selection is not limited to plastics or metals, but can also include food. Virtually any shape can be made from materials such as cheese, corn and chocolate etc. adding unlimited possibilities to the ways food is served and garnished. As opposed to traditional machinery which was used for manufacturing, 3D printers would be able to fit within a household. This is the big selling point that would make it revolutionary. Average market price of these printers range between $1000 to $3000 and units with prices as low as $650 are also available (Daw, 2010). A good quality color laser printer usually costs around $200. Compared with this price, this new generation of household 3D printers appears very affordable. The printing costs are also as low as $1 per cubic inch with usual polymers. The traditional manufacturing technologies are based on the principle of ‘Economy of scale’. This implies that the greater the number of manufactured units, the lesser the cost per unit will be. This is because producing larger number of goods in traditional production lines involves lesser amount of fixed costs per unit. Manufacturing a custom design product hence involves huge costs that are unjustified in most of the cases. The concept of 3D printing destabilizes the entire concept (‘Print me a Stradivarius’, 2011). Custom parts can now be produced in much shorter time and low costs using 3D printing techniques. From articles of cutlery to random automotive parts, anything can be produced by just creating a 3D model in computer software and then pressing the ‘print’ button on our desktop 3D printing machines. Such manufacturing services are also offered at various 3D printing stores which have recently sprung up in market places in American metropolis. Another advantage it has over the traditional manufacturing processes is the lesser amount of ‘scrap material’ it generates during its manufacturing operation. It is quite evident from above discussion that the technology has the potential to be implemented as first choice manufacturing technique for most of the articles of daily use. However, masses, at present, are generally unaware of the existence of such a technique. It is therefore important to make investors and general public believe in the capabilities of the technique through effective marketing. It has been observed that the 3D printing devices are not very expensive as compared to the 2D printing equipment. However, a detailed cost analysis is required for comparison of this technology with traditional manufacturing techniques. Moreover, although the initial cost for setting up a 3D printing system is low, the running costs can be very high for metals and other not easily moldable materials. A clear identification of product range which can be practicably manufactured using 3D printing is required. Technical know-how of the technology is also very rare and is available to prototyping industry only. Such technical expertise will have to be made readily available if the technology is to be marketed at domestic level. If manufacturing for many goods would be done this way, it would be a boon to small businesses. There would no longer be a need to produce a product in China and ship it overseas, when the product can be manufactured in the store, tailored to the needs of the customer instead of mass-produced. 3D printers can also see a use within households for creating food items. With the price of good quality printers expected to eventually drop to $700, it may well become a realistic option for households, and leaves the potential for other manufacturing to be done within homes. But like the computer, the full range of tasks that this device would be able to do will remain unknown until it has been fully explored and introduced. References Daw, D. (2010). The 3D printer Revolution countdown. PC World. Retrieved from http://www.pcworld.com/article/212440/the_3d_printer_revolution_countdown_print_your_own_pc_coming_shortly.html Kain, A., Mueller, C., & Reinecke, H. (2009). High aspect ratio and 3D printing of freestanding sophisticated structures. Procedia Chemistry, 1(1), 750-753. Lipson, H. (2011). Why 3D printing is set to change how we live. The new scientist, 211(2823), 20. Mironov, V., Boland, T., Trusk, T., & Forgace, G. (2003). Organ printing: Computer aided, jet based, 3D tissue engineering. Trends in Biotechnology, 21(12), 157-161. Print me a Stradivarius. (2011, February 10). The Economist. Vance, A. (2010, September 13). 3D Printing spurs a Manufacturing revolution. The New York Times. Read More