The Rise 3D Printers

3D printing used to be far behind in terms of cost effectiveness and speed of production when competing with manufacturing processes such as one of the most common, computer numerical control (CNC) which takes in a block of material then cuts it down using a myriad of sharp rotating tools [1]. However, a company began by MIT professors called Desktop Metal has researched and then made major improvements to address the deficiencies of 3D printing machines. Effectively, they have created a 3D metal printing system that makes mass manufacturing processes significantly more cost effective compared to the older machines used in methods of mass production.
Desktop Metal fixed several of the problems with these 3D printers. Now the systems are more practical to have in the office because they function without the use of hazardous materials that laser systems require, such as toxic chemicals and ignitable metal powders [1]. They can be used by manufacturer workers that do not need to be wearing copious amounts of protective eyewear and masks that keep them from breathing in harmful toxins [1]. The machines are simple enough to be operated by non-professionals; they do not require a ton of training or highly educated engineers to produce the designs. Desktop Metal’s 3D printers only require a design to be input to the system and then the heating, binding, coalescing processes are done by the machine. An article reports that the material used by the 3D printers is 99.8% dense which in layman’s terms means that the products from the machine are quality and durable. Moreover, the machine costs around $120,000 far less than the laser system that retails at $1 million which does not include costs of safety training, the skilled workers using it, and the input materials. This machine will be readily available to the public in 2018.
Now speaking to the specifics of what the 3D printer built by Desktop is capable of. The machine can produce 500 cubic inches of complex parts per hour which is 100 times more effective than the laser based machinery. Additionally, the material that goes into this machine is significantly cheaper than the materials which go into the laser technologies resulting in costs that are 20 times less than the laser technology machines commonly used in production [2].
All of the improvements I mentioned above used to be the faults that were holding 3D printing behind its competitors. When comparing the traditional manufacturing processes to 3D printing there were several major differences. Firstly, 3D printers gave trouble to the user in terms of “correctly orienting a part, feature size restrictions and physical size” [1]. While traditional processes were considered to be less complex, user-friendly, and faster. When comparing the speeds of the computer numerical control to 3D printing, 3D printing machines took longer to build their products than it took the computer numerical control machines to cut off the material from the block and create the object [1]. Another major issue with 3D printing was that its geometry was inferior to the computer numerical control systems. For example, if the products 3D printers were developing had “features that [were] not connected to the model or [if they had] nothing below to brace them, they [would] require extra support material to be printed… increasing cost and time to print” [1]. Metal Desktop 3D printers corrected these flaws, leap frogging their printer to the levels of production traditional machines are capable of.
Looking ahead, industries can use 3D printers in their production methods to transform how they function as a business. Several examples of businesses that 3D printing can revolutionize our food, military, and automotive. In the food industry, it’s believed that stores could sell cartridges of food instead of perishables; driving down the cost of food by reducing costs incurred by perishables, frequent transportation and stocking [3]. In terms of the military, Forbes magazine reported on Defense Distributed a company that produced the world’s first gun from a 3D printer [4]. 3D printers could potentially expedite the manufacturing process for guns and make them economical for everyone such as the military. Finally, in the automotive industry, Ford has begun experimenting with 3D printing using the machines to mass produce parts that are lighter in weight and cheaper. Not only would fuel efficiency be positively affected but the vehicle could become affordable for more Americans [5].
The introduction of 3D printers will transform and revolutionize the manufacturing process for businesses in the world by making it cheaper to mass produce. Desktop Metal has already raised over $210 million from companies like Google, Alphabet, BWM since its founding [6]. 3D printing will more than likely be a significant part of our futures.