3 Impacts 3D Printing Will Have on Manufacturing
Bloggers, techies, and industrial innovators in the know seem to have settled on one theme for this year: additive manufacturing, otherwise known as 3D printing. Many have called 2012 "the year of 3D printing" and expect this 30-year-old technology to break into the mainstream market soon with new industrial viability. ...
What is clear, however, is that developments to the technology have allowed 3D printers to begin actively saving companies time and money while shortening product-to-market timetables and increasing customization capabilities.
Customization:
The additive manufacturing process is quite literally 3D printing, explained Frank Marangell, president of Israel-based Objet Technologies. ...
Product-to-Market Speed:
The key to Apple Inc.'s success, said Objet's Marangell, is its ability to create a direct link between product and design. ...
Efficiency:
"When you think about traditional manufacturing," said Marangell, "you have to think about all the tooling upfront [as well as] the transportation, the storage, the inventory. Time is a big factor. You don't even think about the inefficiencies of the process."
Additive manufacturing changes this model, opening the door for new processes and new efficiencies across the manufacturing process. ...
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