3D Printing Brings New Business Opportunities

3D printing is the new hotbed of innovation, and its technology will impact every business.

3D printed High-Heels

 

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technology that makes it possible to turn 3D-modeled designs into custom solid objects on demand.

3D printing has been around for almost 30 years. Ever since Charles Hull developed the technology for printing physical 3D objects from digital data, its technology has been applied in the design of most of the products we use today. For example, It is used for the design of shoes, electronics, cars, and buildings.

For many years, 3d printing has been used for prototyping products; however, during the last years, many companies have been devoted to making this reachable to everybody this technology. Their goal is that additive manufacturing is used not to create prototypes but to develop final products. The Z Corp. can replicate any tool or object; they only need to scan the object (digitalize), and they will be able to print it in one piece. This video will show how it works.

Where is this new technology taking us?

In the words of Peter Weijmarshausen, co-founder and CEO of 3-D printing company Shapeways:

"Imagine a world in which you can get exactly what you want, and not what is just available...Imagine if you only made what you need, or imagine if you are a designer and could bring your product to market in days, not years. Imagine products that can all be made locally. 3-D printing is relevant for everyone, regardless of your technological background."

Think about an astronaut in space. He is fixing the spacecraft and his only tool breaks, what he will do? Print it. What will happen when you're assembling a cabinet, and you lose one specific and somehow specially-shaped piece, you won't need to call the manufacturer. You will search and find on the Internet the digitalized version, and print it. Just imagine how it could revolutionize medicine, prostheses, and surgeries by implementing 3d printing on skin and flesh.

This technology will be a big revolution and will reduce manufacturing and transport costs for companies. People will no longer need several processes or machines to assemble a single product. They will be able to jump straight to the final product by printing it. Additive manufacturing is becoming more and more accessible, and limitations such as the size or cost of the printers are disappearing. The Vienna university of technology recently developed a smaller, lighter, and cheaper printing device. It is the smallest 3D printer, weighs 1.5 kilograms, and it costs around 1200 Euros. Even the world's first 3D printing pen, 3Doodler, just hit the market a few days ago.

If this technology gets your attention, you must look carefully at Youngstown, Ohio, (USA) which is quickly becoming a national leader in the new generation of manufacturing and is also one of the 15 advanced manufacturing hubs that Obama wants to create across the U.S.

This technology is advancing rapidly, and it can be applied in more and more materials each day. So designers, artists, doctors, engineers, and business people, the future is now.