We are beginning to read in the press that the take up of 3D printing by consumers and small businesses may not be happening as fast as predicted. And some believe there is a disjoint between the reality and the media hype around additive manufacturing driven by 3D printer suppliers; eager to create a mass market.
Did someone get out of bed from the wrong side this morning?
That is one opinion and there is some merit in the argument. 3D printing within the consumer and prosumer markets is still in its infancy. There are also issues around the quality of finished items made by desktop 3D printers. Those are most probably teething troubles and quality will undoubtedly improve over time. We don’t believe 3D printing for ordinary folk will be consigned just as a pastime for hobbyists or less politely nerds with a small desktop 3D printer in their workshops. Visions of the anorak brigade tinkering in their garages or down in the shed at the bottom of the garden are off base.
3D Printing A Home Truth
Today, it is true that the results in terms of a ‘quality’ finish from small desktop 3D printers are not sufficient to meet the requirements for commercial uses. Especially where aesthetics are concerned. When people are given 3D printed items to hold in their hands, the response can be one of a little disappointment. They have been watching all those time elapsed and pumped up videos with music attached of 3D printers producing weird and wonderful things in less than 30 seconds. Your average Joe Bloggs expects more when it comes to the reality. Sitting around for several hours to see a 9 inch sized toy with a relatively rough finish as compared to one made with an injection moulding machine is not what they associate with the wow factor!
So many of the journalists writing about 3D printing are missing the point. They go to one extreme or the other because like most things they report about, their goal is different. They need to make headlines and rarely have the time to offer much apart from regurgitation or not so subtle advertising. Always seeking the sexy story or the headline grabber (no exception look above). Yes we know 3D printing has wonderful uses in medical applications for prosthetics and implants, yes we know you can 3D print houses out of concrete, yes we know people can 3D print weapons, yes we know you can use additive manufacturing for making bits of grand prix racing cars or fighter jets and yes we know you can 3D print a thingy from the thousands of free models on Thingiverse, Sculpteo… but …
Not Fools Gold
If there is real gold in 3D printing to be mined outside of rapid prototyping, the sale of 3D printers or simply the entertainment value for hobbyists (there is nothing wrong in the latter), it has to come from the manufacturing of finished items. That Joe Bloggs can build a business and become a local manufacturer.
Specifically distributed manufacturing of finished products on demand. That leads to all types of business advantages which we don’t need to elaborate on here. Suffice to say, with more efficient, effective and flexible supply chains, businesses can reduce costs and achieve a faster time to market. Its a big win and not a little one. If your local neighbourhood 3D print shop could produce even 5% of everything the community needs, the world would be a very different place.
Manufacturing is the place where 3D printed gold can be found.
How can small businesses with limited budgets get to the gold by 3D printing? Profit or at least revenue usually comes in manufacturing from volume production with repeated quality, meeting a demand as close to the point of need as possible. Behind that sentence is a world of complexity but it gets to the heart of the matter. The goal being to eliminate or greatly reduce inventory, warehousing and transportation.
3D Printing Can Be Complementary
A process known to man for thousands of years has been moulding (molding). It is difficult to beat the finish obtainable with a mould for the same cost as volumes rise, even when those volumes are modest. No desktop 3D printer in the foreseeable future is likely to offer the quality of finish obtainable using a mould, the speed with which you can manufacture in volume or the range of materials that can be applied. It is at this point in time a question of physics.
So what does all this mean for small businesses or the entrepreneur with a 3D model of the item they wish to produce? What does it mean for a small manufacturer trying to serve a local area. What is required is perhaps a facility with an industrial quality 3D printer that is capable of making the depression for a mould or even the mould cavity itself. At this point, the small business with its mould can produce volume of finished articles in a cost effective manner.
3D Printing Products
To make the point really clear. Lets suppose an entrepreneur wants to make 200 statues of the Eiffel tower for a tourist shop outside of Notre Dame. 3D printing them is not going to be cost effective even if he has a 3D printer installed in the back of the shop. The advantages of being on site are not enough. He has to seek a way to reduce the unit cost of manufacture and meet the desired quality. Quality of finishing aside, 3D print one Eiffel tower yes, 3D print two perhaps but fulfil a couple of hundred – you need a mould.
If there is one thing desktop 3D printers require it is a way to improve the quality of the finished item. When this happens, there will be a huge impact. Joe Bloggs can produce moulds of sufficient quality and start manufacturing locally. Traditional industry may not be turned on its head completely but wealth is going to change hands without doubt.
In frankness, what we need to see are big players like Hewlett-Packard or Xerox offer industrial 3D printers and open networks of concessionaires. The impact on society and the economy will be rather interesting to watch. See 3D printed gold at Shapeways.