Bryan Crutchfield is Vice President and General Manager, North America for Materialise, a global leader in 3D printing.
Until recently, 3D printing companies have focused their efforts on showing manufacturers the benefits of the technology, such as efficient prototyping, flexibility in design and the opportunity to take advantage of distributed manufacturing. Recent global challenges, including the Covid-19 pandemic, Suez Canal container ship blockage and semiconductor chip shortage, incentivized manufacturers to tap into these benefits as global supply chains were compromised and manufacturers looked to other sources for parts.
These challenges created a greater awareness of 3D printing and, today, most manufacturers understand the advantages the technology offers. In a survey my company recently commissioned, respondents from manufacturing operations in the United States, Japan and Germany listed 3D printing as one of the three biggest trends in manufacturing along with digitization and artificial intelligence/robotics. The survey also indicated the manufacturing industry is reaching a tipping point for industrial 3D printing—nearly 50% of companies use 3D printing for final products, whereas its main use for years was in prototyping. This shift supports the idea that manufacturers have seen the benefits of incorporating 3D printing into their operations and, maybe more importantly, understand the applications it is best suited for.
It’s now clear that the 3D printing industry is facing a new challenge—we no longer have to demonstrate the value of 3D printing to manufacturers. Instead, my company’s survey results show that the biggest challenge to industrial 3D printing is uncertainty in how to onboard the technology. To address this, leaders in the industry must offer guidance to help manufacturers bring 3D printing production online in a way that is efficient, productive and integrated with existing manufacturing methods.
While integration has its benefits, it also comes with its fair share of challenges. This is obvious when we see that many manufacturers surveyed still use the technology to make prototypes and one-off customizable parts as opposed to end-use parts in larger volumes. According to McKinsey & Company, “while companies have dabbled in using additive manufacturing for the direct manufacture of final products, large-scale adoption of the approach remains limited.” While this is a valuable use of 3D printing in the design and testing phase, it does not tap the technology’s full potential in manufacturing applications.
One barrier is expertise—most manufacturers don’t have employees on staff with the knowledge necessary to seamlessly add 3D printing to the shop floor, and hiring new employees for this purpose can be cost prohibitive. However, with the right training in place and strong relationships, consultants and third-party experts can help overcome this challenge. Outside experts can also help companies find and integrate the 3D printing software that best fits manufacturers’ existing operations and objectives. With today’s software, companies can manage the entire 3D printing workflow more easily, from order intake to delivery, all in connection with their larger manufacturing environment.
In looking for partners to support training or consulting, leaders should seek consultants who have experience and expertise across a range of 3D printing disciplines. Consultants with expertise across design, engineering, software, materials and hardware will be able to provide a more complete view of how 3D printing can support company objectives, helping leaders find the right mix of technology and application to best suit their needs.
As operations scale and become more complex, looking to software platforms that address and optimize each stage of the 3D printing production process can also contribute to long term success of operations. These platforms enable companies to fine-tune each step in the printing process to ensure quality production that is both repeatable and reliable. Opting for cloud-based software can also support training efforts, as it enables software companies to work directly with employees through remote control of operations.
As businesses take control of the printing process, leaders should encourage employees to participate in training courses specific to the software and technologies they will use in implementation. For product design and development teams, courses in designing for additive, rather than subtractive, manufacturing can also be beneficial to ensure they are able to take advantage of the design benefits enabled by 3D printing.
Finally, many manufacturers are hesitant to adopt 3D printing due to high startup costs, such as the price of printers, materials and software. However, in many cases, outsourcing printing is an option, allowing manufacturers to take advantage of 3D printing without committing to a costly investment upfront.
As a forward-looking company, be sure to seek out tools that will improve your operations and better position your organization for ongoing success. As manufacturers move away from asking why 3D printing is beneficial and toward how they can best implement the technology in a meaningful way, I see an opportunity for both manufacturers and 3D printing companies to collaborate to realize the technology’s full potential.
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