Why 3D Printing is Increasing in Popularity

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3D printing is a recent technology, but is quickly growing and increasing in popularity. In about 40 years since the inception of this technology, a lot of companies in different industries including engineering, medicine, architecture, and others have embraced the convenience brought about by this technology. As more people get to learn about the merits of 3D printing, the future can only get brighter and better. You can see some of the uses this technology has been put into in this article. Let’s look at some of the reasons accelerating the popularity of this technology.

Expansion of Its Uses

3D printing technology has been adopted in virtually every other industry that you can think of. It is being used to produce airplane parts, clothes, bionic limbs, food, and other consumer products. You will now find institutions mass producing prosthetic limbs by simply printing them out helping out a great deal of physically challenged individuals. It is now possible to produce end-products faster, and that is of high quality and strong.

Increased Range of Materials

There has been an increased range of materials that can now be used to print different products. It is this possibility that has seen this technology get into different industries. Nowadays, there is increased use of resins, metals, polymers and the traditional plastic that the technology started with. The use of multiple materials has seen large multinational companies such as Airbus and Boeing, two of the largest airplane manufacturers in the world. Airbus, for instance, is already using 3D printed metal brackets and some form of printable plastic for some developmental aircraft. It has impacted industries that focus on medical polymer.

Growing Technology

A great deal of new developments has been made on 3D printers. These machines are now much faster as compared to those that were available some years back. Carbon3D, a start-up company has recently been able to print out a geodesic sphere, the size of a palm in about six minutes. Apparently, this is about 30 to 100 times faster than traditional 3D printers.

On-Demand Manufacturing

The traditional process of manufacturing was too long, expensive and cumbersome. Businesses lost a lot of time that could be put to better use waiting for products to go through this process. The recent developments of 3D printing have enabled on demand products. Businesses can now get products on-demand, cutting the waiting time that initially was being wasted. It is also possible to produce items at the customer’s location saving on transport and handling logistics. There is also no weighing need of keeping inventory and having large warehouses. Companies are now saving on inventory holding costs and warehousing.

Saving on Manufacturing Materials

Manufacturing companies are now saving a lot in terms of material used. 3D printing has significantly reduced wastage as it is an additive process where only what is required is used. Traditional manufacturing had manufacturers wasting massive quantity of raw materials. Airbus has estimated that this technology could reduce the cost of materials by up to 90%, a massive gain and among the reason why the technology has grown in popularity.