3D printing has been in the news since quite some time and all of us are well aware of the fact that it has the potential to change our life completely.
There are several people who claim to see the future of 3D printing. While some point out that it would start the next Industrial Revolution, others are of the view that it would occupy a prominent place among household items.
No doubt there are several ground-breaking news in 3D printing technology, but it’s high time we learn to separate the accurate from the not so accurate stories.
3D Printer will be in Each House
By 2020, the 3D printing industry is expected to be a $21 billion industry. If this expectation meets reality, the machines that are sold to the average customers will account for a significant share of the market.
According to Terry Wohlers, “The idea that there will be a 3D printer in every home is a myth”.
This myth is closely connected to the idea of transforming the customers into manufacturers.
For example, you need a shoe. You are used to visiting a store to buy yourself a shoe. But with the provision for a 3D printer, you are not required to do that. You are simply required to feed in the raw materials and the other necessities to get the shoe customised according to your need. The same is true for foods as well.
You need to wait for some time before life becomes that easy.
The consumer 3D printers are somewhat limited in terms of speed and materials. It would take almost an hour to make a small earring. It is quite unlikely that the consumers would like to spend so much time in the creation of a single item when purchasing them is so easy and fast. Moreover, three-dimensional printing depends on CAD software which is a standard application in industrial and architectural design. 3D printing uses this software for designing the files the printers can use as a blueprint. If the average consumers want to 3D print objects, they need to be deft at handling CAD.
3D Printing is Suitable Only for Large Scale Manufacturing
Though there are several products that aim at massive manufacturing, we can’t claim that it’s only for large scale manufacturing. In fact, it is much more suitable for customised production.
The 3D printing technologies have opened up the capacities for customisation in an array of applications. It has enabled the production of an array of individualised items. This is instrumental in saving time and energy while improving the efficacy of manufacturing substantially.
Though things are improving, the traditional manufacturing methods will stay for the time being. They would be here to produce at rates that are not yet possible to achieve through 3D printing.
We certainly are not saying that things won’t improve. In fact, 3D printing is already proving its efficacy in manufacturing things like houses and cars.
Quite on the contrary. 3D printing is very simple, in fact, simpler than the traditional manufacturing strategies. The 3D printers work in a similar fashion as traditional manufacturing, layering materials or ink for the creation of an object.
It has already been more than three decades since the invention of 3D printer. Since that time, the idea of machine printing things has changed from fiction to reality, opening up several new opportunities in different fields, ranging from science to art. Though 3D printing is yet to develop a lot, it has progressed significantly in terms of utility and scope.
It is possible that we will be able to 3D print organs that can be transplanted in human bodies but till today, the scientists have not yet figured out the ways to print full-sized and functional human organs.
Though 3D printed organs ready for transplant may take some more time to come to prominence, there are several ways by which 3D printing can heal you.
3D printing has the potential to help humanity and make the world a much better place to live in. We are just required to make proper use of it to reap its benefits.
