 | Issue: | Latin America 2013 |
| Article no.: | 2 | |
| Topic: | 3D printing – A digital content-driven industrial revolution | |
| Author: | Avi N. Reichental | |
| Title: | President & CEO | |
| Organisation: | 3D Systems | |
| PDF size: | 270KB |
About author
Avi Reichental is the President and Chief Executive Officer of 3D Systems; the inventor of 3D printing and a provider of end-to-end solutions that are transforming entire industries by redefining and shaping the way we design, create and manufacture. Prior to joining 3D Systems, Mr Reichental served in various senior executive positions with Sealed Air Corporation a provider of food safety and security, facility hygiene, and product protection solutions worldwide, most recently as Corporate Officer, Vice President and General Manager of Sealed Air’s Shrink Packaging business.
Avi Reichental is the recipient of the regional 2011 E&Y entrepreneur of the year award, the 2012 Financial Times Boldness in Business award and holds 25 U.S. patents. Mr Reichental currently serves as faculty chair of the Digital Fabrication Program at Singularity University and is a member of the XPRIZE innovation board and the NCOHF board also known as America’s ‘Tooth Fairy’.
Article abstract
3D printing is 30 years in the making, but still relatively unheard of. Yet it is an integral part of cars, airplanes, shoes and, soon, human body parts. 3D printing creates digitally specified objects of unlimited complexity. With digital files, the same pieces can be exactly, efficiently, reproduced anywhere Buy a design and produce it where needed, in the field, in a facility on the other side of the world, no shipping, warehousing, or outsourcing needed – truly a disruptive technology.
Full Article
The technological advances of recent history have introduced some radical shifts in the ways we think and function. Over the past 20 years, the Internet has enabled mass and rapid access to information, and in the past five years, Facebook and Twitter have transformed the way we gather and share our news and experiences. Now these information and communication revolutions are followed by one in manufacturing via 3D printing: a technology 30 years in the making, but which has remained relatively unheard of until recently due to the exclusivity of its users. Yet even from behind the scenes, 3D printing has become an integral part of everything we interact with today, from cars and airplanes to shoes and eyeglasses. And as technology advances and prices drop, as it becomes more accessible and expert-user barriers are chipped away, 3D printing continues to assert itself in our day-to-day life. The way we make and create is changing.
Also referred to as ‘additive manufacturing,’ 3D printing rethinks traditional ‘subtractive’ methods of production in the exact manner implied. Rather than removing, or subtracting, material to create the desired product, as with chiseling marble to shape a statue, additive manufacturing builds from the bottom up. This simple difference in concept indicates a drastic difference in outcome, as additive manufacturing uses only the material required to create the final product. As with carving a sculpture, subtractive manufacturing produces a waste by-product of unused, and often un-useable, rubble. However, significant enhancements in sustainability are not the only advantage of additive manufacturing; 3D printing incorporates a slew of other unique benefits.
Because 3D printing creates objects precisely as specified by a digital file, the method offers an unmatched solution to the reliable and repeatable manufacture of designs of unlimited complexity. This capability opens unknown doors in engineering and design. Take, for example the possibility of incorporating a curving internal cooling channel in the basic construct of a part. Whereas traditional subtractive methods limit what is possible based on the type or size of tools required, 3D printing is a single tool process. This means there is no change in method to accommodate the specifics of the object printed, which in turn means no additional lead time or costs for simple versus complicated products. Sophisticated customizations and intricate geometries come free of charge. The steps in making moulds and tools are significantly reduced when 3D printing is used. And because 3D printing lets designers place material precisely where it is needed, designs can be made with built-in structures that make it possible to reduce final part count and weight. These reductions are especially useful in automotive and aerospace applications, as they lead to lighter, more fuel efficient components.
The innovation of 3D printing was brought about in 1986 by Charles (‘Chuck’) Hull, patent holder of the first stereo-lithography system and founder of the global 3D printing company, 3D Systems. Hull created his first machine with the hopes of introducing better quality and accuracy to the prototyping process and improving product time to market. Though early 3D printing systems were also complex and costly, Hull was determined to perfect the process and push it to commercial viability. 3D printers now offer automated operation and permit the unmonitored printing of concept models, prototypes and end use parts that can be printed overnight for inspection, redesign or use the following morning. Still in active duty at age 73, Hull remains on the board of 3D Systems and serves as the company’s Chief Technical Officer.
Since the introduction of 3D printing, a wide array of materials have become available for use with 3D printers, including metals, waxes, rubber-like materials, composites, ceramics, plastics and nylons. Used more and more commonly, 3D printing is now an indispensable part of many manufacturing and marketing processes, and is evolving further to become part of educational and home environments as prices drop.
Professional- and production-grade 3D printers vary in print speed, resolution, material capability and size, serve an incredible multitude of applications that permeate our everyday world. Automotive and aerospace engineers use 3D printing for producing end use parts and tools, design verification and prototyping. Current F-18 fighter jets, for example, are manufactured with over 90 3D printed parts, which has pushed the evolution of the F-35 model to incorporate over 900. In addition to giving flight to innovations like these, 3D printing produces full colour models for architectural firms, creates moulds for jewellers to cast designs and provides faster development cycles across manufacturing sectors, from shoes to power tools. 3D printing has also become a significant contributor to dental and medical fields, producing custom hearing aids and dental restorations. Invisalign orthodontics trays are customized and 3D printed en masse, producing over 65,000 unique moulds each day. Now personalized prosthetics can be 3D printed, and developments are even underway to 3D print human organs. This prospect is especially exciting as it could significantly reduce the number of transplant rejections by custom-printing replacement organs using the recipient’s very own tissue as the material.
As if these extensive and expanding capabilities were not enough, 3D printing carries with it yet another game-changing component hidden in plain sight: the digital file. Because 3D printing offers the ability to move designs rather than products, huge possibilities are made available with ramifications that touch on geopolitical, economic, environmental and social issues, just to name a few. Commonly outsourced items may be re-localized through 3D printing, and inventory costs may be reduced or eliminated, all while shrinking the carbon footprint of global transportation. The ability to print on-demand parts also has security implications for the military, offering remote locations full and replenishable access to an entire catalogue of spare tools and parts. Equipping base camps or ships with 3D printers could ease the spatial and material burden of stocked supply closets, while allowing valuable and limited space to be repurposed. These implications and the endless potential of 3D printing are what have earned it its label as a ‘disruptive’ technology.
The role of digital files also has the potential to revamp and restyle nearly every stage of product release, from the obvious method of production, to the underestimated method of distribution, and every phase in between; not only for companies and industries, but for consumers as well. Digitization enables designs to be crowd-sourced for popular, improved outcomes, sparking innovation and collaboration. Though investment in a 3D printer may not be for everyone, companies offering cloud printing services facilitate mass access regardless of mass adoption, which translates to substantially lower barriers to entry for manufacturing. (Cloud printing is the satellite fulfilment and shipment of digitally submitted 3D printing files.) These options enable entrepreneurs to bring their concepts to market with greater ease. And as old products are re-examined, completely new ones will be defined.
Yet innovative rethinking of familiar products is just as likely to impact society as products which have yet to be imagined. To take one example, the 3D printed guitars and basses by New Zealand designer Olaf Diegel have introduced an innovative solution to replace traditional manufacturing using exotic and endangered woods with more sustainable materials. His instruments’ patterns also capture personalities and moods that can be customized to fit the musician as never before, leading some industry onlookers to speculate a 3D printing-inspired shift from mass production to mass customization.
Diegel’s reassignment of resources is just one example of the possibility to create and innovate to enhance current products and processes. Incorporating more recycled materials is yet another shift that will lead to greater reductions in waste and reduced environmental impacts as we strive to become more resourceful in our efforts to live sustainably.
If this is the first you have read about 3D printing, you can be confident that it will not be the last. In the first 25-30 years of this technology’s availability there were a few million people in concentrated industries who had the opportunity to use it. Access has since dramatically expanded. The manufacturing revolution is here. Find out more about it on the Web.
