3D printing: A game changer for manufacturing?

Printing has been a manufacturing process that dates back to the first printing machine invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg.

However, today's printing is carried out in three dimensions (3D) and it is expected that it will fundamentally change the nature of manufacturing.

The traditional manufacturing industry is essentially 'subtraction.

The machine tool takes out large pieces of metal or wood and then cuts, holes or scratches most of the original material to make finished parts.

This creates a lot of waste and most products have to be manufactured and assembled in separate parts.

Early manufacturing requires highly skilled craftsmen who can make finished products by hand with the help of tools.

From the end of the 18 th century, the industry of manufacturing has turned to semi-industry.

Skilled labor and mass production.

The ability to manufacture machine tools and automated production lines helps to reduce costs and produce goods in bulk, but the quality standards are uniform.

Throughout the 20 th century, the focus of manufacturing has always been on how to design mass-produced products at competitive cost and quality.

Total Quality Management (TQM), 'timely' and 'lean manufacturing' focus on improving quality while reducing costs.

Combined with these concepts is the concept of 'agile manufacturing' or the ability to quickly reconfigure the production line to produce a custom product.

However, the recent development is the emergence of 'rapid manufacturing', which is called 'manufacturing by adding materials '.

This uses 3D printing technology to quickly manufacture finished parts and even complete products with a variety of materials.

Unlike earlier subtraction techniques, 3D printing is attached because it adds layers of material that are usually fused together to solid objects.

The waste generated by this process is significantly reduced.

Its assembly is also very precise.

Charles Hull developed the first 3D printing in 1984, a process known as stereo printing

He obtained a patent in 1986. These stereo-

Exposure equipment (SLA) equipment uses UV laser beams to track thin layers in barrels of liquid photos

Curing polymer

When each slice is created, an entity object is built.

These SLAs were quickly complemented by a range of alternative systems such as fused deposition modeling (FDM) and selective laser sintering (SLS ).

The finite difference system adopts half

Liquid material (e. g.

Squeeze out and build the plastic of the final object from the head of the printer ).

The SLS system uses fine powder substances (E. G. g.

Glass, aluminum, titanium, nylon) is blown out of the head of the printer and melted into solid by laser.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) filed a patent for the 3D printer system in 1993, which uses a process similar to the 2D inkjet printer. By the mid-

The 1990 s series of industrial 3D printers are being sold and manufactured for use, but in 2005 Z Corp launched the 'Spectrum Z510' (see below ).

This is a full color, high

High definition 3D printers capable of producing prototypes and models quickly.

The original use of 3D printers (such as Z510) is to create full-color prototypes that can be used for new product development.

These 3D printing technologies make modeling and prototyping faster and cheaper.

However, the use of 3D printing has begun to spread to the mainstream manufacturing of finished products in a wide variety of materials.

For example, the German company EOS uses a 3D printer to make violin from wood

Like a polymer, it sounds almost as good as their traditional Wood Brothers.

One example of using 3D printing when manufacturing large complex products is European aviation Defense and Space (EADS.

EADS is a manufacturer of high-tech civilian and military aircraft such as 380 Airbus and European fighter typhoons.

The company has been using 3D printers to make prototype parts, but is now working on bringing them in to make titanium parts, eventually making the entire wing part.

Another example is a Belgian company that used a 3D printer in February 2012 to make a titanium replacement jaw bone for an elderly woman.

One of the most potentially disruptive developments, however, was the introduction of the open source '3D printing' project in 2006.

This is an initiative by Dr. Adrian Bowyer of the University of Bath, UK.

His ideal is to be a self.

Copy the machine, which can put manufacturing facilities into the home of almost anyone on Earth.

The project started in 2005 and produced the first working prototype by the second year.

Behind Reprap is a biological evolutionary philosophy, when the first working Reprap 3D printer 'Darwin' was created in 2008, it was quickly put into the work of creating its own 'children' and then used to build a 'grandson '.

Since then, the second-generation Reprap machine 'Mendel' (see below) was produced in 2009 and the third-generation 'Huxley' model appeared in 2010.

As an open source community project, almost anyone can download the software and if they know someone has an existing Reprap, they can copy the other one for subsequent assembly.

Similar open source 3D printing systems have emerged since the launch of Reprap.

One of them is the '' printer from the US (see figure below ).

This machine can produce a variety of plastic products, designed for use in home and industrial environments.

The future of 3D printers in manufacturing remains unclear, but some predict that they will change the way manufacturing works.

According to an article published by inin 2011, 3D printing has the potential to dramatically change the way manufacturing works.

As an add-on system, 3D printers are much less wasted than traditional subtraction manufacturing techniques.

They also eliminated the need for a lot of money in tools and work. in-

Progress and raw materials.

The factory may eventually be replaced by a 'digital production plant' that can bring the product from the original design to final production in a fraction of the time it currently takes.

The emergence of more advanced 3D printers will only increase the impact of these systems on manufacturing.

It is predicted that the emergence of this technology is triggering a third industrial revolution.

As outlined in the following video from The Economist, some companies, such as Quirky and shapeway in New York, are using 3D printing and mass sourcing to produce a range of highly innovative products, large, labor-intensive and expensive factories are not required.

However, whether these machines completely replace the traditional manufacturing system, only time can prove that the pace of digital technology is moving fast.

With 3D printing technology, the real added value of product manufacturing will be design and related software programs, not physical assembly.

They can also transform the distribution system of physical products.

lot of stock parts or finished products are no longer required in a retail store.

Inventory may only need to include the necessary inventory of 3D printed materials, customers can place orders online and print and ship products.

For consumers with their own 3D printers, downloading the necessary software and printing out the product may just be a simple problem.

If these technologies do become mainstream, the existing low

The cost of manufacturing countries such as China may fall.

As The Economist article points out, the Chinese are also buying 3D printers, but it is not good to have them produce products in China and only ship them overseas.

Such products are also easy to manufacture in destination countries.

For entrepreneurs, the emergence of 3D printing manufacturing is expected to make the design and release of new products easier.

The cost of new product development will drop significantly, and the cost of production will also drop.

More and more customers are looking for more product customization.

These 3D printing systems provide customers with greater customization opportunities and greater opportunities for customers to actively cooperate.

Create the final product.

As we have known for quite some time, the success of Tuowei in the future will depend greatly on our ability to strike a balance between valuable human insight and interaction with technology.
Finding the best products has been made easier, at Shenzhen Tuowei Model Technologies Co., Ltd.. Here you can see completed ranges of produced with advanced equipment and strict quality control. Go to Tuowei Model and send your enquiry if you have any question.
With this competency, Shenzhen Tuowei Model Technologies Co., Ltd. provide high technology and assist customers to create added value and contribute to the development of producing ABS Prototype.
According to the latest social survey, more than 50 percent of consumers (across all age demographics) follow a brand before purchasing a product. Therefore, Tuowei's content can make or break a customer's decision to conduct business with you.
The success of rubber prototyping factory of campaigns largely rides on how you market your company to the crowd.