The Expansion of 3D Printing

Until recently, 3D printing was only utilized by product designers and hobbyists working primarily with plastics and was not available to the mass market. With the recent price drop of 3D printers and availability of 3D printing materials, the popularity of 3D printing has dramatically increased in the last couple of years. It has been estimated that 3D printing could generate an economic impact of $230 billion to $550 billion per year by 2025 (McKinsey Global Institute, 2012).

Much like an inkjet printer, a 3D printer “prints” a set of plans on a computer by using “additive manufacturing.” The additive manufacturing process builds objects layer-by-layer rather than through molding or subtractive techniques (such as machining) (McKinsey Global Institute, 2012). Additive manufacturing is attractive for producing items that are hard to find or when only a few like items are needed because the cost of production remains the same whether someone prints one or many, or if the item is old or new.

To determine if 3D printing can be the next big disruptive technology, we must look at the advantages of 3D printing, current and future capability of 3D printing and what industries would most likely be disrupted by 3D printing. When these questions have been satisfactorily been answered we can further ask:

• What are the risks of 3D printing? How might this product fail?

• What can be done to make 3D printing succeed?

The main advantage of 3D printing is that a low number of goods can be produced at a relatively inexpensive cost, as compared to traditional manufacturing, which typically requires higher volume to lower costs (Grynol, 2013). 3D printing can skip many traditional manufacturing steps and go directly from an idea to a fin...

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...es in virtually every industry must be fast, flexible and capable to understand the implications that 3D printing will have on their businesses (Grynol, 2013). This is why it is imperative that manufactures start developing their 3D printing capabilities now and help promote innovation to keep the company moving forward.

In conclusion, 3D printers have the ability to be a force in disruptive technology much like the internet did in the 1990’s. The combination of lower cost of 3D printers and advances in 3D printing technology is fueling its popularity in just about every industry from medical to construction. 3D printers could change the way we buy products in the future. Many of the products we buy today will end up being download and printed on a personal 3D printer. It is estimated 3D technology could have up to $550 billion economic impact by the year 2025.