Marketing planning - Case Study Example

3 D PRINTING A Case Study [Pick the The invention of 3D printing originated from the concepts used in ink jet printers. Charles Hull, who is also the co-founder of 3D systems, invented stereo-lithography, a technique through which tangible 3D objects were obtained through providing digital data to the computer. Despite, Hull’s invention there were several problems that created hindrance in the growth of 3D printers, some of them were the consistency of materials, energy required to carry out melting, limitation of the materials to be used, production of void spaces within structure, problems related to layering of different materials over each other, and use of undesired objects within prototypes(Amon et al., 1993).Sintering was applied to minimize energy demands, gluing and blazing were used in the start to fill the void spaces (Amon et al., 1993). Moreover, ceramic powder was used for modeling a prototype, however, there were some pores present in the final product therefore, use of submicron particles of ceramics were referred to provide full density (Yoo et al., 1993). In the last thirty years or so, 3D printing has achieved several milestones; among them are prosthetics engineering, building engines, and even complete cars.

The current trends in the sales of 3D printers are not as encouraging as they were expected a few years back, the main reason being their prices and system requirements. However, the way 3D printer producing companies have optimized their manufacturing capacities and drop down the cast; it seems that targets that were forecasted may soon be achieved. Some of the issues that have caused the limited of 3D printers’ sales apart from high prices are complex programming and designing, non-user friendly soft wares, and limited range of manufacturing materials, and slow processing.

To overcome these obstacles, companies like 3D Systems, Voxeljet, ExOne and Stratasys will have to lead from the front. Investors should consider investing into these companies by buying their shares. Moreover, these companies should work for in developing user friendly product interface. New models should be established and presented into markets at low rates for the promotion of products. More money should be spent in research towards discovering new materials, and designing faster and better printers.

The minimum price of a 3D printer is around $ 1350, so by analyzing the cost of these machines, one can understand well that why these machines are not very common among consumers, Moreover, due to the lack of technical understanding about its operation, consumers are reluctant to spend on it. Furthermore, machines that are available at present for home based users are quiet slow in processing. Designing prototypes is also an issue. These obstacles can be put aside at present, considering the age of this industry, which is fairly young.

However, the wonders it has performed in different fields of life are quite admirable. Similarly, 3d printers have the potential of becoming a useful domestic machine, as it can be used to make prototype household utensils, minor fixes, sanitary ancillaries, and several other regularly used objects. It can be used to make even food, as one team at NASA has tried to make Pizza with help of a 3D printer. Some people have tried making clothes and fabrics as well, so with time as the awareness about the use of 3D printers will increase with time, the utility of 3D printing will also increase within the household.

ReferencesAmon, C., Beuth, J., Kirchner, H., Merz, R., Prinz, F., Schmaltz, K., & Weiss, L. (1993, August). Material issues in layered forming. In Proceedings of the Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas (pp. 1-10).Yoo, J., Cima, M. J., Khanuja, S., & Sachs, E. M. (1993). Structural ceramic components by 3D printing. In Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (pp. 40-50).