The Concept of 3D Printing - Case Study Example

? 3D Printers - The New Industrial Revolution Introduction The 3D printing technology has been developed almost three decades ago and has been implemented selectively in different sectors. Charles Hull first developed this technology in 1984 in which physical objects could be printed from digital data fed into the computer. This first machine was named stereo lithography. The technology of 3D printing involves the process of instantly printing parts of different goods or the entire products instantly; at any place in the globe. It is therefore really “a game changer” (3dprinter, 2013). The boons of this technology do not end here. It s a new generation technology that lay unrecognized for a long time owing to high costs, and has now come into focus (Z Corporation, 2005). Thus 3D printing technology has the potential to affect almost each and every industry and varied aspects of the personal lives of people. Revolution in the modern industrialization: 3D printing technology The benefits of the 3D printing technology are being increasingly realized in the medicine industry. Production of medicine pills or capsules might be changed forever with new bio-printers actually printing human tissue, advancing the methods of pharmaceutical testing. Along with process of production the rate of production of these pills would also undergo vast improvements. The construction business and architecture is changing fast under the effect of this technology. Nowadays, designs of intricate architectural drawings are developed quickly in the form of 3D-printed models. This process is found to be relatively less expensive and also as less time consuming than the traditional process of building prototypes of handcrafted models made of cardboard. Even experiments are being made by “printing concrete structures” (3dprinter, 2013) using gigantic 3D printers. These are build with the objective that on achieving success, in the near future entire buildings would be build or ‘printed’ with the help of 3D printers. Art is also evolving with rapid speed. Digital art has already become the fad, and digital artists can now create magnificent pieces of art and sculpture using this modern technology. It seems that it would have been almost unfeasible to create them through traditional methods. Beautiful objects, starting from artistic sculpture to household fixtures, now are not needed to be build with ones hand; they are simply designed using computer software (3dprinter, 2013). Hence one has the liberty to “imagine a future in which” (Barnatt, 2013) solid objects can be printed by a device attached to a computer. In this future industries have the prospect of moving to a new height and services be improved to the extent that tangible goods might be delivered to common households at their desktops. ‘Atomization’ of computer generated designs would lead to the creation of virtual prototype objects or even real user-end objects in much less time than it is required at present. The internet can be used to connect different producers and suppliers and also the consumers. It would allow modern industries to abandon their processes of “mass pre-production and stock-holding of a wide range of goods and spare parts” (Barnatt, 2013). The jewellery industry 3D printers are “capable of outputting physical objects” (Barnatt, 2013) and are therefore getting installed in different manufacturing plants in different industries. In the jewellery industry it has started to generate a multitude of innovative digitalized manufacturing capabilities. Many companies in the jewellery industry are adopting this latest technology. Process of gold/silver printing The method of 3D printing uses the ‘additive manufacturing technology’ (Tyagi, n.d.). It is a process of “printing an object” (Hembrey, 2013). It involves the process of transferring some material onto a surface in the printer on which the object is to be build, layer after layer, in the method of spraying. These layers are “placed one on top of the other until the completed object emerges” (Hembrey, 2013). At present, different types of 3D printing machines have been developed. These printers might use different substances, depending upon the product it is going to build. But the basic concept of production is the same. The process of ‘printing’ gold objects or jewelleries starts by spraying the gold or silver (or any other precious metal with which the object has to be made) powder on to the surface of the printing space starting from the beginning layer. Laser ray is used that fuses the powdered metal into three-dimensional shapes one layer after another. The simple principles in the process include putting cartridges into the machine and translation of the code into a pattern that is visible on the printer screen for the person to easily make out the pattern of the real model that is going to be developed (Tyagi, n.d.). The design that is supposed to be printed is developed at first “with a 3D modelling program” (3dprinter, 2013) in the form of a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file. The designs are also sometimes scanned using a 3D scanner and fed into the modelling program. Software loaded in the printer “slices the design into hundreds or thousands of horizontal layers” (3dprinter, 2013) in the form of data before it starts printing the object. The 3D printers are customized for the purpose of creating a tangible model of the figure that has been designed and inserted into the computer. The printer reads the CAD file and proceeds to produce each layer one by one exactly as specified. After each of these layers get shape, they blend with one another keeping no visible trace of each individual layer, thereby producing one three dimensional piece of jewellery (Vallance, 2013). This revolutionary process of creating 3D models by using inkjet technology is highly effective in the jewellery industry, since it is both timesaving and cost saving. This technology eliminates the prior need of designing and printing the blueprint of the real object, and then producing and fixing the different parts of the model later on. Using 3D printers, pieces of jewellery can be created in a single complete process as a complete model (Winnan, 2013). Opportunities The 3D printer has come as a disruptive innovation and has affected the jewellery industry in mammoth proportions. Its impacts are extended to different phases of production; consumption of energy, waste generation, speed of availability of product, creation of designs and most importantly their customization according to client’s preferences. According to Chris Vallance, the 3D printing technology is loaded with huge potential and would be the “shape changer for the jewellery industry” (Vallance, 2013). This particular skill of 3D printing allows jewellery designers to create various designs, the development of which in reality in handcrafted traditional methods would be highly complicated. The 3D technology has made it possible to create a variety of intricate designs, shapes and figures (Berman, 2007). This technology allows firms to innovate various designs and to increase the popularity of their brands and improve their market share. Since these products can be build in a short period of time, the firms might forgo the cost of maintaining inventory. Customization is a major breakthrough in this industry. Huge “flexibility of output” (Tyagi, n.d.) allow the firms to customize their designs, alter or reproduce them very quickly. Since jewellery is a luxury good, providing the customers with the products in the form as demanded by them increases competition among the firms to serve the high-street shoppers better. Threats The jewellery industry however faces certain disadvantages with the adoption of 3D technology. The technology is gaining popularity very fast. The internet is facilitating the movement of information across the globe, which is allowing new firms to internalize the knowledge of 3D printing. Therefore the existing firms are facing the threat of new firms entering into the industry. It would sharply increase competition, thereby reducing the price of the goods offered to customers. Customers would enjoy higher bargaining power as the number of firms rises in the industry (Tyagi, n.d.). 3D printing technology can also help counterfeiters. It would pose threat to the fashion designers and therefore the sellers of luxury brands. Since the CAD file is the basic requirement to produce the final object, counterfeiters might obtain the CAD file and make mass-production of the items. It would infringe design rights and customers would face the problem of purchasing fake products unintentionally (Wilkie, 2013). Conclusion The concept of 3D printing and customization of manufacturing gold and silver jewellery is exciting and has revolutionised many an industry. 3D printing technology and the 3D printers have enabled designers and producers to generate a multitude of pioneering digitalized manufacturing processes (Guardian, 2013). The jewellery industry is facilitated to a great extent due to this technology. 3D printing might soon be also used in various new ways to digitalize manufacturing, just like the revolution brought about by the advent of computers and Internet in the procedures of creating, processing and storing information in digital form. Besides, additive manufacturing allows reducing the amount of waste by large volume thereby getting one step ahead towards protection of the environment (Maxwell, 2012). The attention of the mainstream media has been hit hard by this mindboggling possibility. Renowned newspapers and magazines, such as, The Economist, have already published several articles on the topic of 3D printing which are fuelling discussions from different think tank around the globe on this issue (Barnatt, 2013). References 3dprinter, 2013. What is 3D Printing? An Overview. [online] Available at: < http://www.3dprinter.net/reference/what-is-3d-printing > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Barnatt, C., 2013. 3D Printing. [online] Available at: < http://www.explainingthefuture.com/3dprinting.html > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Berman, A. M., 2007. 3D Printing: Making the Virtual Real. [pdf] Available at: < http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/DEC0702.pdf > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Guardian, 2013. 3D printing: coming to a high street near you. [online] Available at: < http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/11/3d-printing-coming-high-street > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Hembrey, J., 2013. How exactly does 3D printing work? [online] Available at: < http://www.3dprinter.net/reference/what-is-3d-printing > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Maxwell, C., 2012. 3D printing: Taking business to another dimension. [online] Available at: < http://www.director.co.uk/magazine/2012/06_June/3D_printing_65_10.html > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Tyagi, G., n.d. 3D Printing Technology. [online] Available at: < http://nicsu.up.nic.in/knowdesk/3D-Printing-Technology.pdf > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Vallance, C., 2013. How tech is transforming jewellery. [online] Available at: < http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21754924 > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Wilkie, J., 2013. 3D technology is shaping the fashion industry. [online] Available at: < http://www.zcorp.com/documents/108_3D%20Printing%20White%20Paper%20FINAL.pdf > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Winnan, C. D., 2013. 3D Printing: The Next Technology Gold Rush - Future Factories and How to Capitalize on Distributed Manufacturing. New York: Barnes & Noble. Z Corporation, 2005. Z Corporation 3D Printing Technology. [online] Available at: < http://www.zcorp.com/documents/108_3D%20Printing%20White%20Paper%20FINAL.pdf > [Accessed 1 June 2013]. Read More