Rapid prototyping has three distinct benefits for manufacturers when it’s combined with

3D printing:

 It’s highly cost-effective. Most of the process is automated, so few staff are
required to complete the process. Equally, the materials and manufacturing
processes are cheaper to set up than would be the case with alternative
manufacturing techniques.

 Speed. Rapid prototyping helps manufacturers produce and discard designs

faster than ever before, learning from each iteration and getting ever-closer to
the final product. This translates to a faster time to market (TTM), which is often
a significant competitive advantage.

 Reduced risk. Mistakes in manufacturing can be extremely costly. Due to the

low cost and time investment needed to produce additional prototypes, rapid
prototyping drastically reduces the risk of costly errors during the mass
production stage.

What is 3D Printing Used For?

At this point, aside from manufacturing, most of the hype and media attention for 3D
printing has surrounded its consumer applications. It’s undeniably ‘neat’ that anyone
with a laptop and under a thousand dollars can design and build almost any object they
can imagine.

However, the true value of 3D printing lies in its commercial applications. Some of the
top industries taking advantage of 3D printing include:

Aviation and aerospace — 3D printing has obvious benefits for the aviation industry.
Most notably, it enables aviation firms to build prototypes fast and at low-cost while
using strong, lightweight materials. Right now, 3D printing is being used to
manufacture everything from internal trim items like seat-back tables and headrests to
engine components and armaments.

With the development of increasingly large 3D printers, we can expect to see even more
components being built using 3D printing in the near future — maybe even an entire
aircraft engine.

Healthcare — In the past, the availability of implants and prosthetics has been a
substantial and costly hurdle to patient care. However, for several years now, 3D
printing has been used in the development of a wide variety of surgical cutting guides,
prosthetics, and even patient-specific implants.

As materials have evolved, the industry has been able to use 3D printing to build
increasingly light, strong, and safe products while reducing turnaround times and cost.

Automotive — For several decades now, the automotive industry has used 3D printing
and other additive manufacturing techniques to produce prototypes. Initially, this was
the only viable use for 3D printing in the automotive industry, as the materials available
were not sufficiently robust for real-world use.

However, as materials have evolved, 3D printing has taken a larger role in the industry.
Now, the technique is routinely used to produce a variety of molds, thermoforming
tools, grips, jigs, and fixtures that are needed during manufacturing. In other words, 3D
printing is being used to augment other manufacturing techniques.

But that’s not all. 3D printing is also invaluable for producing custom parts like body
shells and internal components that are used to tailor specific vehicles.

Architecture — The architectural industry relies on scale models to show clients and
investors what a project will look like once it has been built. These models have
historically been built by hand, and often required hundreds of man-hours to complete.
Naturally, 3D printing has changed everything.

Since architectural projects are already designed using computer software, they are
natural candidates for 3D printing. Now, once a CAD file has been completed, it can be
sent straight to print, saving a huge amount of time and guaranteeing an accurate model
replica.

What’s Next for 3D Printing and Additive

Manufacturing?
So far, widespread commercial adoption has been limited to industries that are already
renowned for being on the cutting edge of technology — manufacturing, aviation,
automotive, and healthcare, in particular.

However, with hardware and materials improving all the time, there’s no doubt that 3D
printing will continue to grow in the coming years.

From 3D printed houses to cars it won’t be long until almost everything we use on a
daily basis can be built using this seemingly space-age technique.