Impact of 3D printing

Hey guys!

In the previous article we discussed about what is 3D printing, how it is done and various types of 3D printers.

Today we are going to discuss about its impact on various sectors. 3D printing has been used by various sectors like automotive industries, aerospace industries, the health sectors, etc. Since the 1980s the technology has shown a rapid development. Let us now just take a brief look on the impact of this technology on some of the major industries.

Automotive Industries:
 

Since the beginning the automotive industries has adopted 3D printing on a large scale. Due to emerging environmental concerns automotive industries had to find some alternative method to manufacture automobiles and it's parts. This is where 3D printing came into effect. Some of the benefits in this area are:

• Rapid Prototyping: 3D printing has enhanced rapid prototyping in pre-manufacturing stage at a significant level.
  
  
• Turnaround Time: Turnaround Time is the time taken to complete a certain request. Due to easy manufacturing of parts due to 3D printing the turnaround time has been reduced.
  
  

·    Cost Reduction: Due to less wastage of resources the overall cost of manufacturing has been reduced significantly.

These were some of the ways in which automotive industries were impacted by 3D printing. Now let's move on to the health industries.

·    Health Industries:

3D printing has changed the medical field to a large extent. It has helped to save many lives and is improving the medical facilities provided worldwide. Let’s just have a look on the advancements made in the healthcare industry due to this technology:

·         3D Printed Organs in Hospitals and Labs: Due to occurrence of 3D printing 3D models of human organs were 3d printed. As a result, it became pretty convenient for doctors all around the world for surgical planning and the study of tumors and other such diseases in the human body.

·         Medical Implants: Numerous 3D printed bone parts for knees, hips, shoulder, etc. are implanted in the human body. This is not generally approved by the FDA but some of these implants were done under there clearance processes. Another fascinating thing about these implants were that they leveraged the 3D printing properties, such as customization and integration.

·         Low Cost Aids: 3D printing enables rapid and low-cost production of devices and aids frequently used by patients.

·    Aerospace Industry:

Since the first aeroplane made by the Wright Brothers, technology in this industry has taken a huge leap and 3D printing has made a huge contribution in this feat. Some real-life projects where 3D printing is used are:

·         NASA is prepping to add 3D printed radiation shields in its ISS Habitat.

·         Boeing 787 is set to use 3D printed Titanium for its manufacturing.

·         NASA has started to develop the world’s first 3D printed copper engine parts.

Here we saw that how world known space organisations have adopted 3D printing as source to manufacture their parts and why not, these parts can be customized according the needs of manufacturer.

Agriculture Industry:

As discussed above 3D printing has impacted major sectors of a country but unfortunately this technology has not reached to its full potential in the agricultural sector yet. Farmers live in rural areas and they need custom made parts in addition to electric components. Due to this 3D printing has a large scope to expand in the area of agriculture. The emerging entrepreneurs have a vast opportunity to make 3D printing available in the agricultural sector. Some of the benefits that 3D printing can provide in farming are:

·         Making custom parts for various activities like spraying pesticides and insecticides.

·         Low-cost parts can be prepared.

       

With proper implementation of this technology even agricultural sectors can grow at a rapid rate.

These were some of the major impacts of the 3D printing in various sectors worldwide. These studies show that this technology has made major developments in a very short span and with the current advancements in technology much more can be developed in this field.

This was all for today's article, hope you liked it. Do share this article.

Thank You!