The transformation of manufacturing.

The Economist in their February 10, 2011 issue had a Briefing on 3D printing heralding the realm of direct three-dimensional printing from entirely digital designs.

As opposed to the “subtractive” process of removing material to reveal the underlying part thru our traditional manufacturing processes, “additive” manufacturing works much as an ink-jet printer does.  The difference is that instead of depositing ink on paper the 3D printer deposits successive thin layers of material one on top of the other to gradually build up an object.

While 3D printing has been used for more than a decade to build quick and dirty “rapid” prototypes, today’s 3D printers are evolving to use an ever-increasing range of materials from high grade plastics to glass to stainless steel and sandstone. As they continue to become more capable these machines are being used more and more to make final products.

While this is all well and good; an even more exciting part is that without the constraints of traditional manufacturing an engineer can design lighter and more purposeful parts thus generating enhanced performance as well. Imagine designing parts and entire systems with varied internal structure and properties. As an example, The Economist predicts that one company, Within Technologies will begin “offering titanium medical implants with features that resemble bone” within the year. Can you imagine a medical implant that is dense and strong where it needs to be with an underlying more open lattice structure to encourage bone growth?

While scaling might seem problematic there is little doubt that these 3D printers will be sitting side-by-side with our traditional mass production equipment and will continue to escape their original niches with evermore innovate capabilities.

As an engineering exercise, a German supplier of laser-sintering 3D printers printed the parts for a violin using a high-performance polymer and had it assembled by a professional violin maker and played by a concert violinist.

One of the other exciting by-products of the evolution of “digital production” will be that is is less capital intensive, breaking down even more barriers to innovation in the future, and in doing so it is lowering the cost of entry. If a company needs a specialized part, maybe we will just print one up. Sounds a little like the revolution in digital paper printing doesn’t it?

For me? Being able to transition from the need of scale to the speed of thought and great ideas is nothing short of a revolution in manufacturing.