ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE COVER STORY 3D PRINTING: FROM PROTOTYPING TO PRODUCTION I
n 2013, 3D printing experienced a surge that led to an unprecedented level of
hype around the future of manufacturing. With the expiration of a series of key patents came an explosion in 3D printer production and a prophesied future world in which everyone would own a 3D printer in their home. Several years have passed and some of the industry hype seems to have died down. A superficial look seems to reveal the key adopters of the technology at that stage were largely hobbyists and inquisitive teenagers- not exactly the mass consumer market envisioned. However, the truly significant
developments are not to be found in the hype. They have been taking place a little more quietly in the industrial world. Beyond 3D printing’s traditional field
of prototyping (‘Rapid Prototyping’), across a host of industries, businesses are increasingly exploring the manufacturing potential of 3D printing to make end use parts. And, as they delve further into the world of additive production, they are finding that the potential benefits are huge – with the right application, design and technology. Let’s return to 2013 for a moment and
look at the ‘3D printer in every home’ model. This was always based around cheap desktop printers. Problems arise when we understand that for mass market products, unless you are in a truly remote part of the world then the established manufacturing and distribution networks are both fast and efficient. To make sense of using a home 3D printer you would have to be designing your own unique products. Not only that, but the achievable quality of parts produced using desktop machines is simply not good enough for most end uses and that is without considering limited capacity, slow production times, questionable reliability and the myriad of post-production finishing processes that may be required. For designers, engineers and the
hobbyists the desktop 3D printing market continues to grow as they see the benefits of ‘instant’ prototypes and models. When it comes to making the leap to manufacturing production (end-use) parts then the scale and reliability is rarely viable with desktop systems, rather requiring industrial production printers. For the purposes of this article it is
important to state we are specifically looking at plastic (polymer) parts. While
6 NOVEMBER 2019 | DESIGN SOLUTIONS
similar principals are also true of metals AM technologies, metals technologies are significantly more diverse, expensive and complex, and as such the production uses, while significant in value, are few and far between relative to the polymer AM market. The design possibilities presented by 3D
printing have the potential to impact on almost any industry. Designs that would have been impossible with conventional production methods, now allow businesses to entirely rethink their products with organic shapes and complex geometries. The potential for innovation, as well as economic efficiency, is huge. Alongside new design potential,
industrial 3D printing allows for high quality, highly customisable parts that can go from design to completion in a matter of days. Online portals that link customer specifications to design software allow for mass customisation. Whereas a desktop 3D printer can produce a single custom part, industrial models can produce hundreds or thousands of unique parts simultaneously, without impacting production time or cost. Following on from customisation, 3D
printing has opened the possibility of short production cycles and more regular design iterations. With no tooling necessary and design changes immediately implementable at no additional cost, businesses that adopt additive manufacturing are presented with the
Businesses are increasingly exploring the manufacturing potential of 3D printing to make end use parts. And, as they delve further into the world of additive production, they are finding that the potential benefits are huge – with the right application, design and technology
unparalleled advantage of being able to bring design innovations to customers in a matter of weeks rather than months or years. And, even when designs don’t change, the quick production times allow businesses to drastically reduce their level of stock and only produce the amounts they need. While these advantages create an
incredibly positive outlook for the new industrial revolution, many businesses are also facing serious decisions in terms the implementation of AM as a production process. A common misconception is that moving to production 3D printing is merely scaling up from the desktop printer in the design office or the existing in-house prototyping facility. To set up production AM capabilities, up front capital investment can be more than double the list price of a production printer once post processing, inspection, software and installation costs are included. An investor also faces the potential blow of knowing that their equipment may be out of date within two to three years. Factoring in the levels of expertise needed means that additional labour costs can make such a venture difficult to justify.
The most cost effective way to use production 3D printers is to run high volumes of parts – all the time, and the greater the variety of shapes and sizes the more efficient the process can become
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