Manufacturers use 3-D printing to create customized products quickly and efficiently. While the process works very efficiently for higher-end machines, smaller models have yet to deliver on the promise that every engineer or entrepreneur can use one of these machines to create quality products.
Jeff Kowalski, chief technology officer of Autodesk, laments a few problems with 3-D printing in 2015 and how to fix them. Kowalski feels this technology is floating on a lot of hype that has not produced results on a large scale. The author demands compact machines that anyone can own, which are capable of manufacturing complex, accurate and imaginative items within a few hours of the design phase.
Quality remains one of the most difficult aspects of 3-D printing. Fragile parts, combined with the limited amounts of materials available for low-resolution printers, restrict what most printers can do. Often, materials can only be mixed two at a time. Engineers solve this problem by shifting focus away from "look what this can make" to "look what this made!" Instead of determining what a machine can do, people at the keyboard stretch their imaginations to expand the capabilities of the hardware they already have.
Unreliability and inconsistency have yet to make 3-D printing worthwhile for everyday output. Most current machines are transparent so users can intervene when something goes wrong with the process. Companies that manufacture printers should now be aiming for one-click printing where the user hits the Send button and the item appears several minutes later. No one monitors a paper printer closely to see if it prints all 10 pages, because that process has been reliably automatic for years. Laser printers are everywhere, but 3-D printers are not quite ready for the same sort of ubiquity. Companies must learn to make better printers before anyone declares a revolution in the manufacturing industry.
The design process often duplicates itself when people draw a concept on paper and then the computer redraws the idea to prepare it for printing. Engineers should see computers as collaborators in the design phase and not just a high-tech easel. Software has become adaptable enough to let computers at least suggest design improvements. Designers should use their computers to their fullest potential rather than limit their design software.
Not everyone knows how to use 3-D printing for everyday aspects of a business. Firms must determine how to implement new technology into their company, and not just buy one for the sake of having a 3-D printer on site. Employees should be trained how to use the machine to create quality products as part of an overall business strategy rather than coasting on the novelty of this high-tech printing press.
Despite hype regarding 3-D printing, this intriguing part of the manufacturing industry has yet to reach its full potential. Quality printers and products, combined with forward-thinking engineers who want to design entirely new products and not just duplicate existing parts, represent the keys to harnessing this manufacturing revolution.
Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
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