3D printers do not make articles by cutting or mold molding like traditional manufacturing machines. The method of forming solid objects by layering increases the scope of the digital concept from a physical point of view. For shape designs that require precise internal recesses or interlocking portions, 3D printers are the preferred processing equipment that can be implemented in the physical world. Below are people from a variety of industries with different backgrounds and expertise levels described in a similar way, and 3D printing helps them reduce major cost, time and complexity barriers. Let’s take a look at the advantages of 3D printing.
Advantage 1: Manufacturing complex items without increasing costs In terms of traditional manufacturing, the more complex the shape of the object, the higher the manufacturing cost. For 3D printers, the cost of making complex-shaped items does not increase, and creating a gorgeous, complex-shaped item does not consume more time, skill, or cost than printing a simple square. Manufacturing complex items without increasing costs will break the traditional pricing model and change the way we calculate manufacturing costs.
Advantage 2: Product diversification does not increase costs A 3D printer can print many shapes, and it can make different shapes of objects every time like a craftsman. Traditional manufacturing equipment has fewer features and a limited variety of shapes. 3D printing eliminates the cost of training mechanics or purchasing new equipment. A 3D printer requires only a different digital design blueprint and a new batch of raw materials. Advantage 3: No need to assemble 3D printing enables the parts to be integrated. Traditional mass production is based on assembly lines where machines produce the same parts and are assembled by robots. The more components a product has, the more time and cost it takes to assemble. The 3D printer can print a door and the matching hinges at the same time by layering, without assembly. Omission of assembly shortens the supply chain and saves labor and transportation costs. The shorter the supply chain, the less pollution.
Advantage 4: Zero time delivery 3D printers can print on demand. Instant production reduces the physical inventory of the company. Companies can use 3D printers to create special or customized products to meet customer needs based on customer orders, so new business models will be possible. Zero-time delivery can minimize the cost of long-distance transportation if the items needed are near-on-demand.
Advantage 5: Infinite design space Traditional manufacturing techniques and craftsmanship products have limited shape and the ability to make shapes is subject to the tools used. For example, a conventional wooden lathe can only produce round items, a rolling mill can only process parts assembled with a milling cutter, and a molding machine can only produce a molded shape. 3D printers can break through these limitations, open up huge design space, and even make shapes that may only exist in nature today.
Advantage 6: Zero Skill Manufacturing Traditional craftsmen need to be able to master the skills they need for a few years. Mass production and computer-controlled manufacturing machines reduce the skill requirements, whereas traditional manufacturing machines still require skilled professionals to make machine adjustments and calibrations. The 3D printer obtains various instructions from the design file and does the same complicated items. The 3D printer requires less operating skills than the injection molding machine. Unskilled manufacturing opens up new business models and provides new ways of production in remote environments or in extreme situations.
Advantage 7: No space, portable manufacturing In terms of unit production space, 3D printers are more capable of manufacturing than traditional manufacturing machines. For example, an injection molding machine can only manufacture items that are much smaller than itself, and in contrast, a 3D printer can produce items as large as its printing station. After the 3D printer is debugged, the printing device can move freely, and the printer can make items larger than itself. The high capacity per unit of space makes 3D printers suitable for home or office use because they require less physical space.
Advantage 8: Reducing waste by-products Compared to traditional metal fabrication techniques, 3D printers produce fewer by-products when making metal. The waste of traditional metal processing is staggering, and 90% of the metal raw materials are discarded in the factory floor. 3D printing reduces the amount of wasted metal. As printing materials advance, “net forming” manufacturing can become a more environmentally friendly process.
Advantage 9: Unlimited combination of materials For today’s manufacturing machines, it is difficult to combine different raw materials into a single product, because traditional manufacturing machines cannot easily combine multiple raw materials during cutting or molding. With the development of multi-material 3D printing technology, we have the ability to combine different raw materials. Raw materials that were previously unmixed will form new materials that have a wide variety of tones and unique properties or functions.
Advantage 10: Accurate physical copying Digital music files can be copied endlessly without degrading audio quality. In the future, 3D printing will extend digital precision to the physical world. Scanning technology and 3D printing technology will work together to improve the resolution of morphological transformations between the physical world and the digital world. We can scan, edit and copy solid objects, create accurate copies or optimize originals. Some of the above advantages have been confirmed, and others will become a reality in the next one or two decades (or thirty years). 3D printing breaks through the traditionally long-established traditional manufacturing restrictions and provides a stage for future innovation. The challenge of 3D printing The bottleneck in the development of the industry Like all new technologies, 3D printing technology has its own shortcomings, which will become a stumbling block in the development of 3D printing technology, thus affecting its growth rate. 3D printing may really bring some changes to the world, but if you want to become the mainstream of the market, you must overcome all kinds of concerns and possible negative effects. 1. Material Limits By carefully observing some of the items and equipment around you, you will find the first stumbling block in 3D printing, which is the limit of the required materials. While high-end industrial printing can be used to print plastic, certain metals or ceramics, materials that are currently not available for printing are relatively expensive and scarce. In addition, the current printers have not yet reached the level of maturity and cannot support the wide variety of materials that we are exposed to in our daily lives. Researchers have made some progress in multi-material printing, but unless these advances mature and effective, materials will still be a major obstacle to 3D printing. 2, the limitations of the machine As we all know, 3D printing has to become mainstream technology (as a kind of expensive technology), its requirements for the machine is not low, its complexity can also be imagined. Current 3D printing techniques have achieved a certain level of geometry and function in reconstructing objects, and almost any static shape can be printed, but those moving objects and their sharpness are difficult to achieve. This difficulty may be solved for manufacturers, but 3D printing technology wants to enter the ordinary family, everyone can print whatever they want, then the machine limitations must be solved. 3. Intellectual Property Concerns In the past few decades, intellectual property rights in the music, film and television industries have become more and more important. 3D printing technology will undoubtedly involve this issue, because many things in reality will be more widely spread. People can copy anything at will, and the number is unlimited. How to formulate 3D printing laws and regulations to protect intellectual property rights is also one of the problems we face, otherwise there will be a phenomenon of flooding. 4. Moral Challenges Morality is the bottom line. What kind of things will violate the moral law, we are difficult to define the advantages of 1: manufacturing complex goods without increasing costs. In traditional manufacturing, the more complex the shape of the object, the higher the manufacturing cost. For 3D printers, the cost of making complex-shaped items does not increase, and creating a gorgeous, complex-shaped item does not consume more time, skill, or cost than printing a simple square. Manufacturing complex items without increasing costs will break the traditional pricing model and change the way we calculate manufacturing costs. Advantage 2: Product diversification does not increase costs A 3D printer can print many shapes, and it can make different shapes of objects every time like a craftsman. Traditional manufacturing equipment has fewer features and a limited variety of shapes. 3D printing eliminates the cost of training mechanics or purchasing new equipment. A 3D printer requires only a different digital design blueprint and a new batch of raw materials. Advantage 3: No need to assemble 3D printing enables the parts to be integrated. Traditional mass production is based on assembly lines where machines produce the same parts and are then assembled by robots or workers (even across continents). The more components a product has, the more time and cost it takes to assemble. The 3D printer can print a door and the matching hinges at the same time by layering, without assembly. Omitting the assembly shortens the <a style=’color: blue;’ target=’_blank’ href=’http://www.gongkong.com/SCM/’ > supply chain, saving labor and transportation costs. The shorter the supply chain, the less pollution. Advantage 4: Zero time delivery 3D printers can print on demand. Instant production reduces the physical inventory of the company. Companies can use 3D printers to create special or customized products to meet customer needs based on customer orders, so new business models will be possible. Zero-time delivery can minimize the cost of long-distance transportation if the items needed are near-on-demand. Advantage 5: Infinite design space Traditional manufacturing techniques and craftsmanship products have limited shape and the ability to make shapes is subject to the tools used. For example, a conventional wooden lathe can only produce round items, a rolling mill can only process parts assembled with a milling cutter, and a molding machine can only produce a molded shape. 3D printers can break through these limitations, open up huge design space, and even make shapes that may only exist in nature today. Advantage 6: Zero Skill Manufacturing Traditional craftsmen need to be able to master the skills they need for a few years. Mass production and computer-controlled manufacturing machines reduce the skill requirements, whereas traditional manufacturing machines still require skilled professionals to make machine adjustments and calibrations. The 3D printer obtains various instructions from the design file and does the same complicated items. The 3D printer requires less operating skills than the injection molding machine. Unskilled manufacturing opens up new business models and provides new ways of production in remote environments or in extreme situations. Advantage 7: No space, portable manufacturing In terms of unit production space, 3D printers are more capable of manufacturing than traditional manufacturing machines. For example, an injection molding machine can only manufacture items that are much smaller than itself, and in contrast, a 3D printer can produce items as large as its printing station. After the 3D printer is debugged, the printing device can move freely, and the printer can make items larger than itself. The high capacity per unit of space makes 3D printers suitable for home or office use because they require less physical space. Advantage 8: Reducing waste by-products Compared to traditional metal fabrication techniques, 3D printers produce fewer by-products when making metal. The waste of traditional metal processing is staggering, and 90% of the metal raw materials are discarded in the factory floor. 3D printing reduces the amount of wasted metal. As printing materials advance, “net forming” manufacturing can become a more environmentally friendly process. Advantage 9: Unlimited combination of materials For today’s manufacturing machines, it is difficult to combine different raw materials into a single product, because traditional manufacturing machines cannot easily combine multiple raw materials during cutting or molding. With the development of multi-material 3D printing technology, we have the ability to combine different raw materials. Raw materials that were previously unmixed will form new materials that have a wide variety of tones and unique properties or functions. Advantage 10: Accurate physical copying Digital music files can be copied endlessly without degrading audio quality. In the future, 3D printing will extend digital precision to the physical world. Scanning technology and 3D printing technology will work together to improve the resolution of morphological transformations between the physical world and the digital world. We can scan, edit and copy solid objects, create accurate copies or optimize originals. Some of the above advantages have been confirmed, and others will become a reality in the next one or two decades (or thirty years). 3D printing breaks through the traditionally long-established traditional manufacturing restrictions and provides a stage for future innovation.
The challenge of 3D printing
Like all new technologies, 3D printing technology has its own shortcomings, and they will become a stumbling block in the development of 3D printing technology, which will affect its growth rate. 3D printing may really bring some changes to the world, but if you want to become the mainstream of the market, you must overcome all kinds of concerns and possible negative effects.
1. Material restrictions
Looking closely at some of the items and equipment around you, you’ll find the first stumbling block to 3D printing, which is the limit on the materials you need. While high-end industrial printing can be used to print plastic, certain metals or ceramics, materials that are currently not available for printing are relatively expensive and scarce. In addition, the current printers have not yet reached the level of maturity and cannot support the wide variety of materials that we are exposed to in our daily lives. Researchers have made some progress in multi-material printing, but unless these advances mature and effective, materials will still be a major obstacle to 3D printing.
2, the limitations of the machine As we all know, 3D printing has to become mainstream technology (as a kind of expensive technology), its requirements for the machine is not low, its complexity can also be imagined. Current 3D printing techniques have achieved a certain level of geometry and function in reconstructing objects, and almost any static shape can be printed, but those moving objects and their sharpness are difficult to achieve. This difficulty may be solved for manufacturers, but 3D printing technology wants to enter the ordinary family, everyone can print whatever they want, then the machine limitations must be solved.
3. Intellectual Property Concerns In the past few decades, intellectual property rights in the music, film and television industries have become more and more important. 3D printing technology will undoubtedly involve this issue, because many things in reality will be more widely spread. People can copy anything at will, and the number is unlimited. How to formulate 3D printing laws and regulations to protect intellectual property rights is also one of the problems we face, otherwise there will be a phenomenon of flooding. 4. Moral Challenges Morality is the bottom line. What kind of things will violate the moral law, we are difficult to define. If someone prints out a biological organ or a living organization, is it illegal? How can we deal with it? If we can’t find a solution as soon as possible, I believe we will be in the near future. There will be great moral challenges in the future.
4, the cost of commitment 3D printing technology needs to bear the cost is high, especially for the general public. For example, the price of the first 3D printer on the JD.com is 15,000. How many people are willing to pay this price to try this new technology? Maybe only fans. If you want to spread to the public, price cuts are a must, but they will conflict with costs. How to solve this problem, manufacturers are estimated to have a headache. Each new technology will face these similar obstacles at the beginning of its birth, but believe that finding a reasonable solution 3D printing technology will develop more rapidly, just like any rendering software, constantly updated to achieve the final improvement. If someone prints out a biological organ or a living tissue, is it illegal?
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