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3D PRINTING


accurate, aesthetic 3D printed crowns and bridges can also be made using resin 3D printing, allowing for more cost-effective and faster production than the traditional milling processes. Continual advancements in technology will see increased durability in dental resins over the coming years so that 3D printed crowns and bridges become a more permanent solution and a replacement for zirconia, the most common material currently used.


REDUCED WASTE


3D printing uses only the exact required amount of material to create a part or product, which means that for most components, extra material with conventional production can be removed at the design stage. This not only makes 3D printing more cost efficient over the full lifecycle of the part but also helping to protect the environment by creating less waste when compared to other subtractive forms of fabrication, such as milling, as mentioned, or laser cutting.


Additive manufacturing has been claimed to dramatically cut the production of scrap waste, sometimes by as much as 90 per cent compared to traditional manufacturing. In the case of multi-material 3D printing, such as 3D printed electronics, there are less part counts while electrical and mechanical functionality is combined to give a more streamlined, efficient and sustainable production process. One form of 3D printing that is replacing metal additive manufacturing is thermoplastics, now being seen by many companies in the aerospace, medical,


UKManufacturing Summer 2023


energy and automotive spaces as possessing real potential, as it creates minimal waste and promotes reuse. Thermoplastic materials can be melted and cured (i.e. cooled down until they solidify), and the whole process repeated several times over again, enabling reuse of materials so that there is less manufacturing waste.


LESS UPFRONT INVESTMENT, FASTER TURNAROUND TIMES


Another attractive feature of 3D printing is that upfront investment is kept low as no tooling is required, making low volume production and one-off parts more economical. This proves a particularly attractive benefit for low volume production as the part design can be changed at any time, quickly and easily. Take injection moulding for instance, a conventional manufacturing technique that requires high initial investments and minimum order quantities, which potentially exposes businesses to more financial risk. Injection moulding requires more time to produce parts, whereas 3D printing, as a single step manufacturing process, can manufacture parts within hours, which speeds up the prototyping process to enable faster completion of each stage to cut lead times.


ADDRESSING GLOBAL LOGISTICAL CHALLENGES


The pandemic has almost re-set everything that went before: disrupted supply chains, availability of


materials, and constrained logistics have significantly impacted manufacturers globally. It has called for a complete re-think of operations. Pre-Covid, a business’ reliance on a rare raw material was down to its suppliers’ access to a reliable source. Without this continuous supply, it has forced companies to think creatively to devise an alternative solution, such as designing a product to make it compatible with another more accessible material, something that is possible through the use of 3D printing. 3D printing has helped companies overcome many of the issues triggered by the pandemic and bring products to market, thanks to the ability to produce manufactured parts anywhere in the world from a digital file, not to mention accelerate development time and lower potential overall cost. The myriad of challenges now faced by manufacturers are also ultimately reasons to embrace these benefits offered by 3D printing and expand its use in the future. Furthermore, its use to disperse manufacturing has the added advantage of reducing transportation needs, as a result providing a means to improve a manufacturer’s margins and carbon footprint.


While we are still in the dawn of 3D printing technology in terms of its potential capabilities for engineers and manufacturers, it is only a matter of time before more sectors embrace the benefits offered through both the materials and the process itself.


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