3D printing implications

Five Ways 3D Printing Will Impact The Global Supply Chain

In January 2019, 3D printer company BigRep unveiled the first 3D printed motorbike."

3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM), is a disruptive innovation which will have a far-reaching impact on global supply chains and operations. Far from being the technology of the future, it is the technology of the here and now. According to the Global Supply Chain Institute white paper, New Supply Chain Technology Best Practices¹, "some supply chain professionals predict 3D printing will eventually rival the impact of Henry Ford's assembly line." This technology has the power to help companies significantly reduce costs, overcome geopolitical risks / tariffs, improve customer service, reduce their carbon footprint and drive innovation for competitive advantage. Whether you believe the technology will revolutionize the production and supply chain process or merely enhance it, you cannot afford to ignore it.

What is 3D printing?

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing is a process which uses a three-dimensional digital model to create a physical object by adding many thin layers of material in succession, subsequently lowering cost by cutting out waste. This is radically different from current, subtractive production methods where up to 90% of the original block of material can be wasted. Although we tend to think of it as a new technology, the first 3D printer was introduced nearly 30 years ago. So far, issues such as durability, speed and protection of intellectual property rights have prevented 3D printing from entering mainstream manufacturing. However, the industry is making rapid advancements and it's only a matter of time before we see it significantly impacting global supply chains.

Major chemical companies are already working directly with 3D printer manufacturers to invent new resins, polymers and powdered metals to take manufacturing into a new era."

Five ways 3D printing will have a massive impact on the supply chain and drive competitive advantage

1. Decentralize production -- The 'portable' nature of the technology will enable businesses to take production to local markets or customers faster. As a result, we will see a shift away from mass production in low-cost countries in favor of more local assembly hubs. Companies will have the capability to produce components closer to home rather than rely on imports. This is especially important during times of geopolitical tension, for example during a trade war, when the cost of purchasing components globally can increase rapidly.

2. Drive product customization -- As a tool-less process, 3D printing technology gives manufacturers unprecedented freedom to tailor offerings to clients' specific requirements and enhance the customer experience. This will result in more agile supply chains which can rapidly adapt to changes in the market. Eventually, we could see design, production and distribution merge into one supply chain function with greater client involvement in the entire design and production process.

3. Reduce complexity and improve time-to-market -- 3D printing technology consolidates the number of components and processes required for manufacturing. This will have a significant impact on global supply chains, decreasing complexities, saving on production costs, enhancing lead times and improving time-to-market.

4. Improve resource efficiency -- 3D printing is a 'greener,' more energy-efficient and cost-efficient production method. It creates almost zero waste, lowers the risk of overproduction and excess inventory and reduces the carbon footprint. It takes 'Just-in-Time' manufacturing to a new level.

5. Rationalize inventory and logistics -- As 'on demand' production becomes the norm, the need to transport physical goods across countries and continents will reduce. Combined with the lower number of SKUs required for production, this will have a major impact on warehousing and logistics and will have the potential to overcome tariffs.

To bring these points to life, GE has built a prototype 3D printed aircraft engine, the GE9X,² that is lighter, faster and more fuel-efficient than any of its predecessors. The firm says 3D printing enabled it to reduce 855 separate parts to just twelve.

Airbus is already talking about constructing entire airplanes with large scale 3D printers."

Tomorrow's technology, today

While 3D printing technology may sound like science fiction, it is actually science fact and it's making its presence felt right now. Here are a few more real-world applications already a reality or just around the corner:

Aerospace -- It may surprise you to learn some non-critical 3D printed parts are already in use on aircraft. GE already have more than 300 3D printers and GE Aviation wants to produce 100,000 additive parts by 2020. The US Air Force has installed seventeen 3D printed parts on the C5 Super Galaxy, which could save tens of thousands of dollars. Other high-profile users of the technology include Airbus / EADS, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems. Airbus is already talking about constructing entire airplanes with large scale 3D printers.

Medical -- The technology is already being applied to manufacture stock items, such as hip and knee implants, and bespoke patient-specific products, such as hearing aids, orthotic insoles for shoes, personalized prosthetics. Success stories include Open Bionics, a UK-based producer of 3D prosthetic arms which, in February 2019, secured a £4.6M investment to take its business to the international market.

Automotive -- Many automotive companies are already making use of 3D printing to help with prototyping. Ford has been using 3D printing technology since the 1980s. According to Ford's website, traditional methods would take four months and $500,000, but with 3D printing, the same process takes four days and $3,000. Future possibilities are almost limitless. In January 2019, 3D printer company BigRep unveiled the first 3D printed motorbike.³ The bike, which is not available on the market, took three days to print and cost just £2000.

Construction -- Although the technology is still in its infancy, significant advances have been made with the use of 3D printers in the construction industry as construction giants begin to see the potential of the technology. 3D concrete printing is developing rapidly, and the market is expected to reach $56.4M by 2021. More and more companies are starting up in the sector to create new, innovative projects. For example, Russian 3D printing manufacturer, Apis Cor printed an entire house in just 24 hours.⁴

Chemicals -- There is an incredible opportunity for the chemical industry to innovate and drive new revenue streams using 3D printing technology. The industry could find itself at the heart of the manufacturing process as it works closely with 3D printer manufacturers to develop new materials specifically designed for additive manufacturing. Major chemical companies are already working directly with 3D printer manufacturers to invent new resins, polymers and powdered metals to take manufacturing into a new era. Chemical giant BASF is one of the companies leading the way with a dedicated 3D printing division and partnerships with a string of hardware OEMs, software vendors, and materials specialists.

Food -- We could be seeing 3D printed food in restaurants or in our kitchen in the near future. Initiatives that mix 3D technologies and food are more and more numerous; this new manufacturing method would make it possible to create and mass produce food with more complex and original shapes and innovative recipes. It would also offer personalized meals to better adapt to the diversity of diets. Hershey's has already entered into partnership with 3D Systems to make a 3D printer for chocolate and other edible products though there is no word when the chocolate-making machine may be available.

Oil and Gas -- Although adoption of additive manufacturing technology in the oil & gas industry is behind other industries, the technology has enormous potential in this industry. For example, 3D printing could allow organizations to access a bank of digital designs for on-site printing in the field. This will have a major impact on the speed and efficiency of equipment repairs and maintenance, reducing the necessity to either maintain physical inventories of spare parts on site or wait for them to be manufactured and transported to a facility.

Thanks to 3D printing, it is now possible to build a home in 24 hours."

Shape the future of your supply chain and operations

Additive manufacturing represents a major opportunity for companies to re-engineer their buy-make-move-fulfill supply chain for competitive advantage. With the market size predicted to reach $11,223.6Bn in 2019 and $41,587.1Bn by 2027⁵, it's an opportunity executives can't afford to overlook. Yet, according to the Global Supply Chain Institute, only 16% of firms have a documented multiyear supply chain and operations strategy.

The global 3D-printing market is predicted to reach $11,223.6Bn in 2019 and $41,587.1Bn by 2027"

What next?

The additive manufacturing revolution is coming, and it could impact your supply chain sooner than you think. The smart move is to start preparing now by answering the following questions:

What areas in my supply chain and operations are potentially impacted by 3D printing?
How do I protect my business and take advantage of the opportunities that will come my way?
What needs to change across my buy-make-move-fulfill supply chain to help stay ahead of the game?
What's the business case and what should my supply chain and operations transformation journey look like?

Footnotes

¹ New Supply Chain Technology Best Practices, Global Supply Chain Institute, available to download at, https://haslam. utk.edu/gsci/publications

² 3D Printing Media Network, GE Prepares 777X for take off with 3D printed turbine blades

³BBC News, Nera, the 3D printed electric Motorbike

⁴3D Natives, Thanks to 3D printing, you can now build a home in just 24 hours

⁵ 2019 Additive Manufacturing Market Outlook and Summary of Opportunities, SmartTech Analysis

Further reading

50 cool things to 3D print in February 2019, All3DP

The free beginner's guide, 3DPI

About Us

Maine Pointe is a global supply chain and operations consulting firm trusted by many chief executives and private equity firms to drive compelling economic returns for their companies. We achieve this by delivering accelerated, sustainable improvements in EBITDA, cash and growth across their procurement, logistics and operations. Our hands-on implementation experts work with executives and their teams to rapidly break through functional silos and transform the buy-make-move-fulfill supply chain to deliver the greatest value to customers and investors at the lowest cost to business. We call this Total Value Optimization (TVO)™.

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The 3-D Printing Revolution

Idea in Brief

The Breakthrough

Additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, is poised to transform the industrial economy. Its extreme flexibility not only allows for easy customization of goods but also eliminates assembly and inventories and enables products to be redesigned for higher performance.

The Challenge

Management teams should be reconsidering their strategies along three dimensions: (1) How might our offerings be enhanced, either by us or by competitors? (2) How should we reconfigure our operations, given the myriad new options for fabricating products and parts? (3) How will our commercial ecosystem evolve?

The Big Play

Inevitably, powerful platforms will arise to establish standards and facilitate exchanges among the designers, makers, and movers of 3-D-printed goods. The most successful of these will prosper mightily.

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Industrial 3-D printing is at a tipping point, about to go mainstream in a big way. Most executives and many engineers don’t realize it, but this technology has moved well beyond prototyping, rapid tooling, trinkets, and toys. “Additive manufacturing” is creating durable and safe products for sale to real customers in moderate to large quantities.

The beginnings of the revolution show up in a 2014 PwC survey of more than 100 manufacturing companies. At the time of the survey, 11% had already switched to volume production of 3-D-printed parts or products. According to Gartner analysts, a technology is “mainstream” when it reaches an adoption level of 20%.

Among the numerous companies using 3-D printing to ramp up production are GE (jet engines, medical devices, and home appliance parts), Lockheed Martin and Boeing (aerospace and defense), Aurora Flight Sciences (unmanned aerial vehicles), Invisalign (dental devices), Google (consumer electronics), and the Dutch company LUXeXcel (lenses for light-emitting diodes, or LEDs). Watching these developments, McKinsey recently reported that 3-D printing is “ready to emerge from its niche status and become a viable alternative to conventional manufacturing processes in an increasing number of applications.” In 2014 sales of industrial-grade 3-D printers in the United States were already one-third the volume of industrial automation and robotic sales. Some projections have that figure rising to 42% by 2020.

Additive’s Advantages

It may be hard to imagine that this technology will displace today’s standard ways of making things in large quantities. Traditional injection-molding presses, for example, can spit out thousands of widgets an hour. By contrast, people who have watched 3-D printers in action in the hobbyist market often find the layer-by-layer accretion of objects comically slow. But recent advances in the technology are changing that dramatically in industrial settings.

Some may forget why standard manufacturing occurs with such impressive speed. Those widgets pour out quickly because heavy investments have been made up front to establish the complex array of machine tools and equipment required to produce them. The first unit is extremely expensive to make, but as identical units follow, their marginal cost plummets.

Additive manufacturing doesn’t offer anything like that economy of scale. However, it avoids the downside of standard manufacturing—a lack of flexibility. Because each unit is built independently, it can easily be modified to suit unique needs or, more broadly, to accommodate improvements or changing fashion. And setting up the production system in the first place is much simpler, because it involves far fewer stages. That’s why 3-D printing has been so valuable for producing one-offs such as prototypes and rare replacement parts. But additive manufacturing increasingly makes sense even at higher scale. Buyers can choose from endless combinations of shapes, sizes, and colors, and this customization adds little to a manufacturer’s cost even as orders reach mass-production levels.

A big part of the additive advantage is that pieces that used to be molded separately and then assembled can now be produced as one piece in a single run. A simple example is sunglasses: The 3-D process allows the porosity and mixture of plastics to vary in different areas of the frame. The earpieces come out soft and flexible, while the rims holding the lenses are hard. No assembly required.

Printing parts and products also allows them to be designed with more-complex architectures, such as honeycombing within steel panels or geometries previously too fine to mill. Complex mechanical parts—an encased set of gears, for example—can be made without assembly. Additive methods can be used to combine parts and generate far more interior detailing. That’s why GE Aviation has switched to printing the fuel nozzles of certain jet engines. It expects to churn out more than 45,000 of the same design a year, so one might assume that conventional manufacturing methods would be more suitable. But printing technology allows a nozzle that used to be assembled from 20 separately cast parts to be fabricated in one piece. GE says this will cut the cost of manufacturing by 75%.

U.S. hearing aid companies converted to 100% 3-D printing in less than 500 days.

Additive manufacturing can also use multiple printer jets to lay down different materials simultaneously. Thus Optomec and other companies are developing conductive materials and methods of printing microbatteries and electronic circuits directly into or onto the surfaces of consumer electronic devices. Additional applications include medical equipment, transportation assets, aerospace components, measurement devices, telecom infrastructure, and many other “smart” things.

The enormous appeal of limiting assembly work is pushing additive manufacturing equipment to grow ever larger. At the current extreme, the U.S. Department of Defense, Lockheed Martin, Cincinnati Tool Steel, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are partnering to develop a capability for printing most of the endo- and exoskeletons of jet fighters, including the body, wings, internal structural panels, embedded wiring and antennas, and soon the central load-bearing structure. So-called big area additive manufacturing makes such large-object fabrication possible by using a huge gantry with computerized controls to move the printers into position. When this process has been certified for use, the only assembly required will be the installation of plug-and-play electronics modules for navigation, communications, weaponry, and electronic countermeasure systems in bays created during the printing process. In Iraq and Afghanistan the U.S. military has been using drones from Aurora Flight Sciences, which prints the entire body of these unmanned aerial vehicles—some with wingspans of 132 feet—in one build.

Three-Dimensional Strategy

This brief discussion of additive manufacturing’s advantages suggests how readily companies will embrace the technology—and additional savings in inventory, shipping, and facility costs will make the case even stronger. The clear implication is that managers in companies of all kinds should be working to anticipate how their businesses will adapt on the three strategic levels mentioned above.

Offerings, redesigned.

Product strategy is the answer to that most basic question in business, What will we sell? Companies will need to imagine how their customers could be better served in an era of additive manufacturing. What designs and features will now be possible that were not before? What aspects can be improved because restrictions or delivery delays have been eliminated?

For example, in the aerospace and automotive industries, 3-D printing will most often be used in the pursuit of performance gains. Previously, the fuel efficiency of jet fighters and vehicles could be enhanced by reducing their weight, but this frequently made them less structurally sound. The new technology allows manufacturers to hollow out a part to make it lighter and more fuel-efficient and incorporate internal structures that provide greater tensile strength, durability, and resistance to impact. And new materials that have greater heat and chemical resistance can be used in various spots in a product, as needed.

Want to know how fast the 3-D future is coming? Don’t look only at adoption rates among manufacturers. Look at the innovation rates of inventors. In 2005 only 80 patents relating to additive manufacturing materials, software, and equipment were granted worldwide, not counting duplicates filed in multiple countries. By 2013 that number had gone into orbit, with approximately 600 new nonduplicative patents issued around the globe.

What are some of the companies behind these patents? Not surprisingly, the two leaders are Stratasys and 3D Systems, rivals that have staked out positions in additive manufacturing. They hold 57 and 49 nonduplicative patents respectively. As befits its printing heritage, Xerox, too, has invested heavily in additive technologies for making electronics and has developed a strong alliance with 3D Systems. Panasonic, Hewlett-Packard, 3M, and Siemens likewise hold numerous patents.

But surprisingly, the largest users of 3-D printing have also been active innovators. Fourth on the list, with 35 patents, is Therics, a manufacturer of medical devices. These commercial companies understand additive manufacturing’s potential to give them important advantages over competitors.

Also noteworthy among patent holders are companies that straddle both worlds. GE and IBM are important manufacturers but are increasingly invested in platforms that optimize value chains run by other companies. GE (11 patents) is developing the industrial internet, and IBM (19) has worked out what it is calling the “software-defined supply chain” and optimization software for smart manufacturing systems. Both are well positioned to take on similar roles with regard to additive manufacturing—and both bear watching as models for how incumbents can capture disproportionate value from a highly disruptive technology.

In other industries, the use of additive manufacturing for more-tailored and fast-evolving products will have ramifications for how offerings are marketed. What happens to the concept of product generations—let alone the hoopla around a launch—when things can be upgraded continually during successive printings rather than in the quantum leaps required by the higher tooling costs and setup times of conventional manufacturing? Imagine a near future in which cloud-based artificial intelligence augments additive manufacturing’s ability to change or add products instantly without retooling. Real-time changes in product strategy, such as product mix and design decisions, would become possible. With such rapid adaptation, what new advantages should be core to brand promises? And how could marketing departments prevent brand drift without losing sales?

Operations, reoptimized.

Operations strategy encompasses all the questions of how a company will buy, make, move, and sell goods. The answers will be very different with additive manufacturing. Greater operational efficiency is always a goal, but it can be achieved in many ways. Today most companies contemplating the use of the technology do piecemeal financial analysis of targeted opportunities to swap in 3-D equipment and designs where those can reduce direct costs. Much bigger gains will come when they broaden their analyses to consider the total cost of manufacturing and overhead.

How much could be saved by cutting out assembly steps? Or by slashing inventories through production only in response to actual demand? Or by selling in different ways—for example, direct to consumers via interfaces that allow them to specify any configuration? In a hybrid world of old and new manufacturing methods, producers will have many more options; they will have to decide which components or products to transition over to additive manufacturing, and in what order.

Additional questions will arise around facilities locations. How proximate should they be to which customers? How can highly customized orders be delivered as efficiently as they are produced? Should printing be centralized in plants or dispersed in a network of printers at distributors, at retailers, on trucks, or even in customers’ facilities? Perhaps all of the above. The answers will change in real time, adjusting to shifts in foreign exchange, labor costs, printer efficiency and capabilities, material costs, energy costs, and shipping costs.

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A shorter traveling distance for products or parts not only saves money; it saves time. If you’ve ever been forced to leave your vehicle at a repair shop while the mechanic waits for a part, you’ll appreciate that. BMW and Honda, among other automakers, are moving toward the additive manufacturing of many industrial tools and end-use car parts in their factories and dealerships—especially as new metal, composite plastic, and carbon-fiber materials become available for use in 3-D printers. Distributors in many industries are taking note, eager to help their business customers capitalize on the new efficiencies. UPS, for example, is building on its existing third-party logistics business to turn its airport hub warehouses into mini-factories. The idea is to produce and deliver customized parts to customers as needed, instead of devoting acres of shelving to vast inventories. If we already live in a world of just-in-time inventory management, we now see how JIT things can get. Welcome to instantaneous inventory management.

Indeed, given all the potential efficiencies of highly integrated additive manufacturing, business process management may become the most important capability around. Some companies that excel in this area will build out proprietary coordination systems to secure competitive advantage. Others will adopt and help to shape standard packages created by big software companies.

Ecosystems, reconfigured.

Finally comes the question of where and how the enterprise fits into its broader business environment. Here managers address the puzzles of Who are we? and What do we need to own to be who we are? As additive manufacturing allows companies to acquire printers that can make many products, and as idle capacity is traded with others in the business of offering different products, the answers to those questions will become far less clear. Suppose you have rows of printers in your facility that build auto parts one day, military equipment the next day, and toys the next. What industry are you part of? Traditional boundaries will blur. Yet managers need a strong sense of the company’s role in the world to make decisions about which assets they will invest in—or divest themselves of.

Aurora Flight Sciences can print the entire body of a drone in one build.

They may find their organizations evolving into something very different from what they have been. As companies are freed from many of the logistical requirements of standard manufacturing, they will have to look anew at the value of their capabilities and other assets and how those complement or compete with the capabilities of others.

The Platform Opportunity

One position in the ecosystem will prove to be the most central and powerful—and this fact is not lost on the management teams of the biggest players already in the business of additive manufacturing, such as eBay, IBM, Autodesk, PTC, Materialise, Stratasys, and 3D Systems. Many are vying to develop the platforms on which other companies will build and connect. They know that the role of platform provider is the biggest strategic objective they could pursue and that it’s still very much up for grabs.

Platforms are a prominent feature in highly digitized 21st-century markets, and additive manufacturing will be no exception. Here platform owners will be powerful because production itself is likely to matter less over time. Already some companies are setting up contract “printer farms” that will effectively commoditize the making of products on demand. Even the valuable designs for printable products, being purely digital and easily shared, will be hard to hold tight. (For that matter, 3-D scanning devices will make it possible to reverse-engineer products by capturing their geometric design information.)

Everyone in the system will have a stake in sustaining the platforms on which production is dynamically orchestrated, blueprints are stored and continually enhanced, raw materials supplies are monitored and purchased, and customer orders are received. Those that control the digital ecosystem will sit in the middle of a tremendous volume of industrial transactions, collecting and selling valuable information. They will engage in arbitrage and divide the work up among trusted parties or assign it in-house when appropriate. They will trade printer capacity and designs all around the world, influencing prices by controlling or redirecting the “deal flow” for both. Like commodities arbitrageurs, they will finance trades or buy low and sell high with the asymmetric information they gain from overseeing millions of transactions.

Any manufacturer whose strategy for the future includes additive techniques has to lay out a road map for getting there. Companies already on the journey are taking things step-by-step, but in three different ways.

Trickle Down

Some start with their high-end products, knowing that their most sophisticated (and price-insensitive) customers will appreciate the innovation and flexibility. The luxury will trickle down in the time-honored way as the technology matures and becomes more affordable. Automotive manufacturers, for example, tend to engineer one-off parts specially for Formula One racing cars and then find ways to introduce versions of those innovations to high-end sports and luxury cars. As engineers’ familiarity with the technology grows, they spot opportunities to bring it to parts for mass-market car segments.

Swap Out

Other pioneers proceed in a less splashy way, focusing first on the components of a given product that are easiest to migrate to additive manufacturing. The objective is to develop the organization’s know-how by advancing to more-challenging components of the same product. This is common in aerospace, where companies have selected a specific product, such as an F-35 fighter jet, and started with mundane brackets and braces before moving to, say, internal panels and partitions. As the manufacturers learn more, they begin printing the fighter’s exterior skin. Experiments with printing its load-bearing structures are now under way.

Cut Across

A third approach is to find components that show up in multiple products and use them to establish a 3-D foothold. For example, a design improvement for a fighter jet could be transferred to drones, missiles, or satellites. Such cross-product improvement builds knowledge and awareness throughout the company of how additive manufacturing can enhance performance on key dimensions such as weight, energy use, and flexibility.

The common theme here is small, incremental steps. In all three approaches, engineers are being given fascinating new puzzles to solve without having their world upended by still-evolving methods and materials, thus minimizing risk and resistance to change. It is up to more-senior managers to maintain the appropriate level of pressure for taking each successive step. As they push for further adoption, they should allow naysayers to explain why 3-D printing isn’t right for a given part or process, but then challenge them to overcome that roadblock. Traditionalists will always be quick to tell you what 3-D printing can’t do. Don’t let them blind you to what it can.

Responsibility for aligning dispersed capacity with growing market demand will fall to a small number of companies—and if the whole system is to work efficiently, some will have to step up to it. Look for analogs to Google, eBay, Match.com, and Amazon to emerge as search engines, exchange platforms, branded marketplaces, and matchmakers among additive manufacturing printers, designers, and design repositories. Perhaps even automated trading will come into existence, along with markets for trading derivatives or futures on printer capacity and designs.

In essence, then, the owners of printer-based manufacturing assets will compete with the owners of information for the profits generated by the ecosystem. And in fairly short order, power will migrate from producers to large systems integrators, which will set up branded platforms with common standards to coordinate and support the system. They’ll foster innovation through open sourcing and acquiring or partnering with smaller companies that meet high standards of quality. Small companies may indeed continue to try out interesting new approaches on the margins—but we’ll need big organizations to oversee the experiments and then push them to be practical and scalable.

Digital History Replicated

Thinking about the unfolding revolution in additive manufacturing, it’s hard not to reflect on that great transformative technology, the internet. In terms of the latter’s history, it might be fair to say that additive manufacturing is only in 1995. Hype levels were high that year, yet no one imagined how commerce and life would change in the coming decade, with the arrival of Wi-Fi, smartphones, and cloud computing. Few foresaw the day that internet-based artificial intelligence and software systems could run factories—and even city infrastructures—better than people could.

The future of additive manufacturing will bring similar surprises that might look strictly logical in hindsight but are hard to picture today. Imagine how new, highly capable printers might replace highly skilled workers, shifting entire companies and even manufacturing-based countries into people-less production. In “machine organizations,” humans might work only to service the printers.

And that future will arrive quickly. Once companies put a toe in the water and experience the advantages of greater manufacturing flexibility, they tend to dive in deep. As materials science creates more printable substances, more manufacturers and products will follow. Local Motors recently demonstrated that it can print a good-looking roadster, including wheels, chassis, body, roof, interior seats, and dashboard but not yet drivetrain, from bottom to top in 48 hours. When it goes into production, the roadster, including drivetrain, will be priced at approximately $20,000. As the cost of 3-D equipment and materials falls, traditional methods’ remaining advantages in economies of scale are becoming a minor factor.

Local Motors can print a good-looking roadster from bottom to top in 48 hours.

Here’s what we can confidently expect: Within the next five years we will have fully automated, high-speed, large-quantity additive manufacturing systems that are economical even for standardized parts. Owing to the flexibility of those systems, customization or fragmentation in many product categories will then take off, further reducing conventional mass production’s market share.

Smart business leaders aren’t waiting for all the details and eventualities to reveal themselves. They can see clearly enough that additive manufacturing developments will change the way products are designed, made, bought, and delivered. They are taking the first steps in the redesign of manufacturing systems. They are envisioning the claims they will stake in the emerging ecosystem. They are making the many layers of decisions that will add up to advantage in a new world of 3-D printing.

A version of this article appeared in the May 2015 issue (pp.40–48) of Harvard Business Review.

Potential dangers of a 3D printer. Part 1

In early February, a great tragedy occurred in the United States - a young family and pets died in their house under unclear circumstances. And the first suspect was a 3D printer. Allegedly, carbon monoxide released during 3D printing could cause poisoning for people and their pets. While the police cannot reliably establish the source of the gas leak and the causes of the tragedy, however, we decided to remind once again what potential dangers lie in wait for the owners of home printing devices and how to protect yourself and your loved ones from their impact.

1. Getting burned

It must be remembered that the principle of operation of the FDM printer is based on the melting of a plastic filament. Thus, the heating elements of the device present a great danger when touched. As a rule, the temperature of the extruder of a working device can vary from 170 to 300ºС. The specific figure depends on the type of material and appearance of the product you choose.

The melting temperature of the filament used in printers is sufficient to cause burns. For ABS plastic, it is about 210-270ºС, for PLA - 180-190ºС. This is enough to get painful damage in contact with both the material itself and the heating elements of the printer: the table and the extruder nozzle.

For PLA printing, this risk is lower because a heating bed is not needed, but if you are working with ABS, be extremely careful not to touch the hot elements. The risk of injury is directly proportional to the area of the heating surfaces. Remember that the temperature should be checked only by the readings of the sensors that are displayed in the printing program or on the display of the device, and not by hand or improvised means.

In situations where direct contact with hot surfaces is required, such as when cleaning the nozzle, special tools and personal protective equipment must be used, and extreme care and discretion must be exercised.

Also, keep children and pets away from the printer and never leave them alone with the printer. It is always easier to prevent danger than to deal with its consequences.

2. Electrical injury

Like any mains powered device, a 3D printer can cause electrical injury to a person. Naturally, with proper operation of the device this will not happen. Even in the event of a ground fault, the voltage in the exposed parts of the 3D printer will usually not exceed 12-24 V, which is considered safe and will only cause a slight shock.

However, when disassembling the case of the device for repair, replacement of a part, or cleaning of plastic, the possibility of receiving a 220 V electric shock increases many times over.

It must be remembered that any electrical appliance must be disconnected from the mains before servicing. Some printers have an external rather than an internal transformer, but this should not be a reason to forget about safety and leave the plug in the outlet.

Also not to mention the risks of short circuits. The probability of such an event in a 3D printer, as in any other household appliance, is small. But if you are assembling a set according to the drawings, be careful when connecting the wires. In the best case, the printer simply will not turn on or the fuse will burn out, but in the worst case, everything can end in an electrical injury or fire.

Evgenia Kurochkina, Development Director at ZENIT 3D, comments:

“There is no more danger from using a 3D printer than from any other electrical device used in everyday life or in professional activities. But, nevertheless, they are presented on the market as 3D printers with a high degree of security and, let's say, ordinary ones. What you should pay attention to when choosing a 3D printer using FDM technology and when working with it.

Such devices, as a rule, have two heating elements: an extruder and a heated platform or simply a table. The temperature of these nodes can reach up to 310ºС (extruder) and 110ºС at the table. To avoid burns during printing, the printer must always be with closed walls (so that a child or a pet does not accidentally climb in). The presence of a display and light indication will help to understand, even if the printer is already idle, what is the temperature of its heating elements at the moment.

Many manufacturers save money at the expense of safety. One of the options for such savings is to "power" the heating table directly from 220 V. In our opinion, this is wrong and unsafe. For example, when working with a 3D printer, many people use a spatula to remove a part, it is quite sharp, and any inaccurate action with a spatula when the table is on can lead to a short circuit and a 220 V current shock. Realizing this, we went the other way, and instead of 220 All ZENIT 3D printers supply only 24V to the table.

The extruder is the hottest part and must be handled with the utmost care. To remove the remaining plastic from the extruder, it is imperative to use a special tool.

As for the electrical part, there is also something to look for when choosing a 3D printer. All wires and connections must be insulated, and best of all, hidden in the printer case. Any open connections, contacts, wires, boards in the event of an accidental short circuit can at least damage the equipment, at worst - harm health

Our company, developing 3D printers, considers the safety of its devices to be one of the important tasks. In particular, when developing the new ZENIT 3D model, which will be launched on the market in 2017, we paid a lot of attention to the safety aspect.”

3. Fire hazard

While we're on the subject of fires, let's talk about fire hazards not related to electricity. In point 1, we already wrote about high temperatures of heating surfaces in the context of burns, but an open printer case can also ignite materials lying around the printer. Paper and flammable liquids that have a low flash point should be kept away from a working printer, especially if it is an open type.

Another problem could be overheating of the extruder. For example, the ignition temperature of PLA plastic is about 388ºC. Purely theoretically, it may happen that a broken printer temperature sensor will cause spontaneous combustion of the material. If your printer also has a plywood or plastic case, this automatically turns it into fuel for the resulting fire.

Therefore, it is recommended that you install a fire alarm in areas where you print and keep a fire extinguisher handy at all times. Also, you can not leave a working device alone for a long time. It is clear that it is impossible to constantly monitor the printing for several hours, but it is better to monitor the operation of the printer from time to time.

A compromise would be to purchase a compact camera installed in the print room and broadcast to a smartphone or tablet.

4. Moving parts

3D printers have a lot of moving parts. These are motors, pulleys, threaded rods, carriage and fans. All this can easily grab you by the protruding part of the body and cause a lot of trouble. Avoid contact with moving parts of the printer while it is in operation! Do not reach in or attempt to correct a sliding object or push the carriage by hand.

If your 3D printer is an open type, wear tight-fitting clothing and keep an eye on your hair to minimize the risk of cloth and hair getting caught in moving parts. It is also worth worrying about the placement of the spool with consumables in advance, so that in the future the thread does not catch on foreign objects and knock the printer to the floor.

If the device does grab your clothing or hair, turn off the printer immediately and manually move the carriage until the pinched part of your body is completely free.

Irina Solomnikova, Commercial Director of IMPRINTA comments:

“If we talk about the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning, then yes, such tragedies as in the USA are possible and, unfortunately, common. If we consider the 3D printer as the cause of the tragedy, then the repetition of such a case is unlikely. However, the source of carbon monoxide in this tragedy has not been established. As many people know, there can be many reasons for the occurrence of carbon monoxide. This includes the operation of a car, a fire, the operation of gas water heaters and stoves, improper operation of stoves, damage to a gas pipeline, etc.

But it is definitely worth remembering that when using a 3D printer, you should follow safety precautions and use it for its intended purpose. Misuse of any appliance, such as a game console, microwave oven, telephone, iron, etc., can lead to unpleasant consequences.

The rules for using the 3D printer are very simple:

The 3D printer must be installed in a ventilated area.
The 3D printer must be placed on a level, stable surface.
Before connecting to the network, it is worth checking the reliability of the power supply.
Some parts of the printer get very hot. Do not touch them while the printer is in operation to avoid burns.
The printer has moving parts. During the operation of the 3D printer, it is necessary to avoid getting foreign objects into the moving mechanisms of the printer, this can lead to injury and damage to the equipment.
Do not place anything on the 3D printer.
Be aware that some media may be toxic. When choosing a material, you must carefully read the description, temperature conditions and use only trusted manufacturers of printing materials.
Do not leave small children unsupervised while the printer is in operation.
Don't leave your printer running when you leave home.

If you follow these simple rules, as well as following the instructions, the use of a 3D printer will be safe both in the office and at home.

In conclusion, we add that a 3D printer, like any device, can harm a person. But let this not be a reason to abandon its use, but a reason to think about safety precautions. In particular, pay attention to your workplace, study the instruction manual and follow basic safety precautions. Then, instead of problems, a 3D printer will bring only the joy of creativity and positive emotions.

In the next part of the article, we will talk about the potential dangers of 3D printing consumables.

If you know or have encountered any other risks that come from 3D printers, write about it in the comments.

Tags: Irina Solomnikova, Evgenia Kurochkina, ZENIT 3D, IMPRINTA, 3D printer, 3D printing

How safe are resins for 3D printing?

Filament Deposition Modeling (FDM) material extrusion is the most popular polymer 3D printing method, but resins are becoming more and more important to consumers. Resin technologies such as stereolithography (SLA) were previously only used in dental laboratories, engineering departments and manufacturing plants due to the high cost of the equipment. Now that machines have become more affordable, more and more ordinary users are using SLA technology, which calls into question their safety.

Unlike FDM devices, resin printers use photosensitive liquids to print, curing materials with ultraviolet light. Liquid polymers pose a greater potential health risk than raw materials in fiber form. The toxicity of the resource may put off some users, but printing with resin can be safe if the right algorithm is followed.

What are the Potential Risks of Resins

The word "toxicity" is troubling, but according to the definitions developed by occupational health and safety professionals, any substance that, under certain conditions, can cause health problems or disease, is "toxic". According to this formulation, many substances around us are potentially dangerous, including perfumes and mattress filling. But are there any particular risks when using liquid resins for 3D printing?

The main concern with photopolymer resins is that they can cause skin irritation on contact. In some cases, contact of the substance with unprotected skin results in burns and blisters, which may require medical attention. If the materials come into contact with the eyes, they will cause irreparable damage.

Many resins are sensitizers, which means that prolonged exposure sometimes causes a mild allergic reaction. The chemicals that make up most resins are irritants that provoke the appearance of dermatitis - inflammation of the skin due to rejection of foreign elements. The skin quickly absorbs such chemicals, so prolonged contact with the composition or exposure to a large dose can lead to more serious consequences.

Another problem with resin 3D printing is air pollution. The material releases fumes, potentially reducing indoor air quality (IQA). Poor IQA scores can lead to headaches, fatigue, or more serious reactions such as breathing problems. These effects are due to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other small particles that cause an inflammatory response in the airways, leading to swelling or tenderness.

Long-term effects from working with liquid polymer are rare but significant:
• If the vapors are inhaled for a long time, chronic diseases of the respiratory system may appear.
• Some of the VOCs emitted by resins are suspected to be carcinogens, so they are likely to cause cancer after prolonged exposure.
• Constant physical contact can lead to severe allergies.

Standards and manufacturer's instructions

On the other hand, most resins on the market do not pose a significant hazard. Companies that produce such materials must comply with government standards and additional recommendations ISO 9001. Regulations ensure that chemicals produced by businesses are minimally harmful. However, some hazardous elements, such as asphalt fumes and synthetic mineral fibers used in fiberglass, are still widely used and over half a million workers are exposed to them.

Manufacturers usually provide Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) that list any potential health concerns. For example, corneal burns from overexposure to the eyes, or nausea and vomiting if swallowed. All these documents are provided in order to provide users with maximum safety when using consumables.

Some compounds may be more dangerous than others for certain people. If a person does not know if they are allergic to any materials, they should act as if they are and handle the product with care.

Safety Steps

Several government agencies have conducted research into the safety of epoxy 3D printing. They all showed that long-term emissions from printing are mostly negligible, although risks exist if proper precautions are not taken. Since studies have found traces of hazardous substances when working with resin formulations, safety regulations must be observed.

3D printing resins are not as scary as they seem, but they still need to be handled with care.