While it is true that there is no Moore’s type law – Moore’s law applying to 3D printers, most naysayers where 3D printing is concerned, miss some very important advantages for manufacturing.
3D Printing Breaks Down Barriers To Entry
3D printers allow batch manufacturing to be set up with relatively small investments relative to the traditional costs of sinking capital into tooling and plant. The traditional barrier to entry in many types of manufacturing (requiring expensive and inflexible plant or tooling) is likely to lower significantly over the next few years. 3D printing as mentioned several times on various blogs and in the press offers an opportunity to compete successfully with many traditional manufacturers.
Additive Manufacturing Unit Costs
So how is this possible? It is true the unit costs for 3D printing are still on the high side, quality finishing can still be an issue and the types of available materials for Joe Average to 3D print with are limited. Many serious applications need a much broader range of materials. Moreover, many costs in manufacturing still come down to the cost of assembly and that is not going away anytime soon. For example, if you want to produce in metals then a 3D printer capable of doing so is a serious investment beyond the reach of small businesses – certainly more expensive than average tooling used and modest CNC machines.
The trick though in many circumstances is to use 3D printing as a complement to the usual manufacturing process. For example, if you use 3D printers to make moulds, you can see how competition could develop quickly in many areas. It is probably not an overstatement to say that if you use 3D printers to make the object for creating mould cavities you have a very flexible manufacturing capability at your disposal. Most importantly unit costs for manufacturing tumble as volumes go up. That really is the point – unit manufacturing costs drive profitablity.
3D printing is not going to displace all traditional manufacturing or even the larger part of it but it does have an important part to play. Small batches of products can be made locally and cheaply, just in time and close to their point of need. That has an impact on shipping, holding inventory and a number of other important costs associated with manufacturing such as design revision, customisation and reductions in the overall time to market.
It is no wonder that 3D printing is attracting the attention of Goliaths like Amazon & Co who are always seeking to reduce costs from their worldwide network of facilities – further reading in the – Washington Post