Will 3-D Printing Change the Economics of Manufacturing?

3-D printing is expanding quickly in the marketplace as new types of technologies continue to surface. 3-D printing uses additive processes to create objects of various shapes and sizes from generic equipment. The obvious advantage to 3-D printing is that it reduces or eliminates the need for capital expenditures and the risks inherent to purchasing specialized equipment. The downside to 3-D printing is that it is usually not economically feasible or efficient to manufacture large quantities of parts this way.

Thus far, 3-D printing has been used most often in prototyping applications, but that is expected to change. For example, aircraft manufacturer Boeing began utilizing 3-D printing as a means of producing aircraft parts (video). Boeing has used 3-D printing technology to produce parts during the development cycle, but is also expected to 3-D print a number of different aircraft parts in full production. More manufacturers may adopt this trend as additive technologies continue to improve. There are a number of different implications to this.

The Shift to Small Batches—Good and Bad

The move from dedicated machines to generic manufacturing equipment makes economical small-batch production a viable option in many cases where it would have been cost-prohibitive on conventional production lines. The ability to make just a few—or even just one—of a given product, has the ability to change the game of production. However, specialized equipment has an inherent advantage over generalized equipment. 3-D printing will likely always carry a higher cost and longer cycle times than machines that do one thing only. For that reason, small-batch production will have to deliver sufficient added value to the end customer to justify an increase in price—or result in sufficient cost savings to cover the expense of the process.

Mass Customization and Inventory

It is feasible that you will be able to order a new article of clothing, custom-tailored to your exact proportions, rather than buying a pair of pants or shirt that was designed for the average person. In similar fashion, it is feasible that you may even be able to buy a car with the interior layout customized exactly you want it. Replacement parts for industrial equipment may be able to be 3-D printed on demand. This trend is likely to reduce the demand for carrying inventory on shelves. In fact, carrying inventory is likely to become a dangerous liability for suppliers as product life cycles become shorter. We are likely to see a “just-in-time” mentality become even more prevalent in a number of different sectors.

Localized Production

The ability to produce and ship a good at a location close to its final destination has always been a value-add, but in the era of capital-intensive specialized equipment, centralized production is a necessity. Now, with the move toward general-purpose production equipment, the ability to produce goods at multiple locations around the globe is a real possibility. The business model of the shipping industry is likely to be affected by this, since geographically fragmented production could result in many small shipments going short distances rather than shipping a small number of large crates across the ocean.

Manufacturing is a fundamentally different industry than it used to be. 3-D printing is simply an accelerator of a process that has already been under way for quite some time. Quality of life will improve with this new technology, but we can expect significant challenges along the way.

This entry was posted on November 14th, 2013 and is filed under General, Technology. Both comments and pings are currently closed.