3D printing has come a long way from its humble beginning more than a decade ago. The technology has advanced to the point where it is becoming mainstream and allowing number of use cases in multiple industries. It was only few years ago when 3D printing was used by the hobbyist to develop a prototype or a scaled replica of an object. These days it has been embraced by small and large industries not only to build prototypes, but also mass produce devices and objects.
3D printing, also known as ded additive manufacturing, offers number of advantages which has led to the widespread use in recent times. Amongst them are:
- Reduced time to market – You can develop a prototype of a new product within hours with the help of 3D printing. This helps iterate through the development cycle quickly and bring new products to market in a short time.
- Cost savings – With 3D printing you are able to build prototypes without having to develop costly tooling or dies. This results in substantial savings when you consider the number of times you have to develop the tooling during design process.
- Reduced waste – 3D printing is an additive process, which means it builds the object by depositing material layer after layer as opposed to traditional manufacturing which produces the object by cutting material from a block. Additive manufacturing results in minimal waste.
- Customization – You don’t have to produce the same parts from a single tool or die as is the case in traditional manufacturing. Instead 3D printing allows you to customize the parts by tweaking the program used to drive the 3D printer.
With so many advantages it is no surprise that manufacturers in all types of industries have adopted 3D printing for large number of use cases. Here are some of the industries that are using 3D printing for various use cases.
- Industrial – Manufacturing industries are the obvious choice to adopt 3D printing for many benefits mentioned above. Industrial companies use it to develop rapid prototypes and customized parts.
- Medical – Medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies are using 3D printing to produce medical devices as well as body tissues using a technique called bioprinting. This has led to the development of artificial organs and tissues.
- Education – More and more schools are incorporating 3D printing into their curriculum to prepare students for the future by allowing them to create prototypes and conduct experiments without having to incur large expenses. Students can get exposure to advanced technology at an early age with the use of 3D printing.
- Art and jewelry – 3D printing has the ability to build small objects in complicated shapes. This is perfect to produce small jewelry which requires delicate manufacturing.
As you can see 3D printing can help in many industry use cases. If you have not done so already it is time to get in touch with 3d printing machine manufacturer to get these benefits.
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