3D Printing: Disruptive Technology

4 Industries that 3D printing is disrupting…
While the history of 3D printing spans nearly four decades, it has only been quite recently that we’ve seen this industry accelerate into new, unchartered and more widely publicised territory. With its origins in a solid imaging process known as stereolithography – invented by Charles Hull in 1983 – the most fundamental definition of 3D printing is “additive manufacturing”. This occurs when a computer or industrial robot lays down successive layers of material in order to construct an object of any shape, geometry and composition based on an electronic data source.
In practice, widespread application of 3D printing methods has the potential to cause major disruptions in the global economy by 2025, according to McKinsey Global Consulting. This is largely due to its ability to completely change and decentralise how we produce and access the products and materials we use on a daily basis.
However, the current state of at-home, consumer-facing 3D printers are limited in their capabilities. Most are able to print small plastic objects, with just a few capable of printing metal. They are also, for the most part, far beyond the price point of most consumers. However, there is reason to believe that in the near future consumers will be able to own a machine that can print 100 times faster than today’s models and produce objects comprised of multiple raw materials at once. Indeed once they’re widely available, these consumer-facing and in-home models of 3D printers are set to be the biggest game-changers.
Research firm Strategy Analytics places the potential value of at-home 3D printing at $70 billion by the year 2030. If a high-capability consumer model becomes very affordable before then, there’s every likelihood it could happen even sooner. This means that many of the things we spend our time doing such as shopping, getting things repaired or searching for replacements will all of a sudden be solved.
From fashion to manufacturing, medicine to electronics, the prospect of 3D printers being widely available to consumers will undoubtedly change a number of industries. Here’s a closer look at how it might do that:
Fashion: 3D printing in the high fashion world has been around for some time, as designers like Iris Van Herpen have used the method to create unique and ground-breaking designs. But at-home consumer models could change what we shop for and what we wear forever. Without having to rely on mass market chains, consumers would be able to choose designs from open source databanks and simply print them at home.
Medicine: The field of medicine is always advancing quickly, but 3D printing seems poised to accelerate one of the historically stubborn areas of medical advancement: tissue and cell generation. Organovo is a company that’s working to commercialise 3D-printed liver tissue and other forms of “bio-printing”—that is, creating cells—are generating much discussion and debate focused on moral and ethical concerns.
Electronics: Being able to print small personal electronics like hearing aids and other customised wearables would certainly be a game-changer for the industry. Technology company Voxel8 seems set to do just that. And while their version of the 3D printer can’t yet print anything as complex as a smartphone, their sights are set on the personalised wearables market.
Food: If a 3D printer can print any material, why not food? With models like the Foodini—one of the first consumer models available—already on the market, it can’t be that far off. While the process is slightly different from the additive manufacturing approach of regular printers due to the unique challenges of varying temperatures and food holding its shape, foodies and gourmands have been innovating and altering the process to find the perfect way to print delectable meals on demand.