Why 3D Printing Is Preferred?

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is becoming popular with manufacturers. Today, more and more companies are embracing the 3D printing process as it presents many significant advantages over the more traditional manufacturing methods.

Rapid Prototyping

We live in a fast paced world where everything is required – that is why 3D printing can really make a difference. Before 3D printing industry come to flourish, a prototype would take weeks to manufacture. Every time a change was made, another few weeks of time were added to the process. With shipping times figured in, fully developing a product from start to finish could easily take a year. However, 3D printing can manufacture parts within hours, which speeds up the prototyping process. The whole process is easy - complex designs can be created as a CAD model and then transformed into a reality in just a few hours. Also, if needed, the design can be modified without adversely affecting the speed of the manufacturing process.

Cost Saving

3D printing saves time and therefore costs associated with using different machines for manufacture.

Industrial cost. Tools are special parts designed by manufacturing engineers to solve specific problems on the factory floor. Since each tool is often custom-made, they can be extremely costly and time consuming to make. 3D Printing can produce different objects without creating specific tooling or even using several tools.

Labor cost. Traditional prototyping methods like CNC machining and injection molding require a large number of expensive machines plus they have much higher labor costs as they require experienced machine operators and technicians to run them. This contrasts with 3D printing process, where only 1 or 2 machines and fewer operators are needed (depending on the system) to manufacture a part.

Material cost. There is far less waste material in 3D printing manufacturing because the part is built from the ground up, not carved out of a solid block as it is in subtractive manufacturing and usually does not require additional tooling.

Travel cost. 3D printing can also help to reduce the amount of distance that a product will travel. As 3D printers can create a product from start to finish, it enables designers to design the product in one country, email it to another country in preparation for production. There is no requirement to create prototypes that have to be moved around from factory to factory in order to complete the process. This makes 3D printing an industry that can be created around the world without leaving a footprint. Therefore, there is a reduction in shipping, air travel and road travel.

Ease of Customization

While using digital manufacturing, it is easy to adapt a 3D design using a 3D modeling software and print different iterations of the same product. If you need mass-customization, additive manufacturing will be the cheapest and most efficient way to create your products. Also, parts can be created from tailored materials to provide specific properties such as heat resistance, higher strength or water repellency.

More Flexibility & Higher Quality

As single step manufacture process, 3D printing is more beneficial.

3D printing allows for the print of more complex designs than traditional manufacturing processes. It allows the freedom of design. You can recreate all your ideas to transform them into actual objects. Even the most complex geometries can be printed.

Poor designs lead to poor quality prototypes. During the traditional manufacturing process, faulty prototypes cost time and money. With every faulty prototype, you need to go back to the drawing board, with no guarantee it would be right the second time around. However, risk can be avoided in 3D printing. The nature of this method allows the step-by-step assembly of the part or product, which guarantees enhancement of the design and better quality parts/products. Therefore, you can verify your designs by creating a production-ready prototype before going ahead with the final creation.

Available in a Variety of Fields

3D printing has already made a shift in the manufacturing process in various industries such as dental and hearing aids, aerospace, civil and military aeronautics, jewelry, etc. For example, it is making a huge impact on people who need artificial limbs. 3D printing revolutionizes the process of designing and building artificial limbs because it is completely customizable.