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Advances in 3D Printing

(November 2011) posted on Tue Nov 01, 2011

Same-day prototyping, even for precision and tight-tolerance parts and products, is now possible thanks to 3D printing. Find out about some of the many applications and industries for which it’s suited.


By Kevin Lach

click an image below to view slideshow

It’s so fun to ponder what 3D printing might accomplish some day that we tend to overlook what’s really happening today. Fly to the moon and print out a city? Not yet. Replace your dead coffee maker by printing out a new one in your workshop? Closer, but no, not yet.

Because these scenarios seem so outlandish—today, at least—we sometimes forget that businesses are using 3D printing every day to obtain quantifiable business benefits. Some of the most aggressive and innovative engineering organizations—many whose names are very familiar—are actually using 3D printing on a daily basis to boost innovation at every stage of the design and engineering process. They’re creating killer prototypes from concept through manufacturing to improve speed, quality, and creativity at every phase. So, while novel applications abound, 3D printing is definitely no longer a novelty (Figure 1).

Three-dimensional printers, which create real, physical objects from 3D data, are paralleling the evolution of office document printers. They’re getting faster. The price is falling. Output quality is soaring. Multicolor printing is here. Devices are becoming easier to use and more office friendly.

This third generation of 3D printing technology is transforming early adopters into high performers. It’s helping designers and engineers overcome limited time and budgets, the complex dynamics of working with colleagues and external partners, and the technical limitations of design tools.

With a clever idea today, designers can do a lot more than daydream. Without a budget and before someone can shoot their idea down, they can just CAD up a concept, push a button, print a model, walk it around the company, and try to inspire managers to produce it. Designers and engineers have never been in a better position to shine. With low-cost, high-volume, fully automated prototyping technology, they can innovate every day, and add value to the design, development, sales and marketing processes. Rather than toiling away at the same old designs, they are creating more and being more creative.

While solidifying its presence in manufacturing, 3D printing is making deep inroads into the most advanced architecture firms. It is also making an impact in fields like entertainment, education, anthropology, geographic information systems, medicine, and more.


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