Evolution of 3D Printing Technology from 2004 to 2013

The year 2009 marked a significant advancement in 3D printing technology with the introduction of the first 3D printer kit based on RepRap methodologies, named 'BfB RapMan 3D.' Although some companies showed interest in the concept, the major utilization was towards open-source communities and developing the technology for fun. The commercialization of the technology began in 2012 with the introduction of alternative printing processes like 'B9Creator' and 'Form1,' which were funded through Kickstarter. The advancements in various aspects of 3D printing led to its widespread adoption, and it is expected to have a significant impact on industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and logistics.

Running Head: IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Dissertation
Implications of 3D Printing for the Global Logistics Industry
Student Name:
Student ID:
Course Name:
Course ID:
Faculty Name:
University Name:

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Executive Summary

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Research Background..............................................................................................................................4
Research Rationale..................................................................................................................................4
Research Aim...........................................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives................................................................................................................................4
Research Questions.................................................................................................................................5
Research Scope........................................................................................................................................6
Summary.................................................................................................................................................6
Literature Review........................................................................................................................................7
3D Printing and Advancements...............................................................................................................7
Historical Aspect of 3D Printing...........................................................................................................8
3D Printing, Manufacturing, and Supply Chains......................................................................................9
Summary.................................................................................................................................................9
Research Methodology................................................................................................................................9
Summary.................................................................................................................................................9
Results and Discussion.................................................................................................................................9
Summary.................................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References...................................................................................................................................................9

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Introduction
3D Printing (3DP) has been growing gradually from prototyping to manufacturing customized
parts in low volume. It has started to create buzz around the industry professionals. However,
there is consideration that whether this would be a suitable field to invest large sums or it is just a
field of amusement. 3D printing can be seen spreading its wings to almost all the industry,
beginning from IT industry to manufacturing and supply chains. This paper has focused on
understanding the implications of the 3D printing technology for the global logistics industry
(Manners-Bell and Lyon, 2012). The logistics industry amply utilizes the various transportation
services and there are some speculations that the utilization of the 3D printing in this filed can
profoundly impacts the extent with which the transportation services are being demanded in the
market. Moreover, there are numerous geographies that can utilize this technology to build better
capitals.
The logistics industry combines six elements in general, namely, “consumption, design,
production, transport, selection, and final delivery.” One can observe that all the elements are
deeply connected and it is the expectation that embracing the 3D technology can streamline these
activities and goals can be achieved faster.
3D printing allows the companies involved in the development of the products in manufacturing
even single unit at lowest cost possible. Therefore, it can be stated that the manufacturing
companies do not have to bother about the mass production and economies of scale. The
reduction in the time and costs utilized for the production due to the expected growth in the 3D
technology is likely to positively impact the market price of the products being brought in the
market. Moreover, the reduction in the utilization of the resources for the product will help the
companies to produce the local products effectively and compete with the companies and the
products that are coming from abroad. It can also be stated that the companies that are coming
from the external market at present use the global logistics to a greater extent to compete with
the local market (Tatham et al, 2014). However, after the advancement in the 3D technologies,
one can expect growth in the manufacturing of the products from the local market which will
eventually improve the local market condition. The demand of the global logistics might reduce
due to this overturn of the manufacturing techniques. The above discussion helps in inferring that
3D technology might be disruptor for the technological industry. This disruptive technology is
likely to challenge the logistics and manufacturing. There are some of the researchers who have
realized that this technology might have appreciable impact as stated earlier (Van Diepen, 2012;
Markillie, 2012; Anderson, 2012).
There have been a series of debates concerning the 3D printing and the logistics. It is expected
that the evolution in the 3D technology is likely to revolutionize the methods that are utilized to
do the production of goods. The organizations will be gradually shifting from the transportation
oriented organization to the costs that are employed on the labor.

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Research Background
3D printing technology has spent appreciable amount of time with the manufacturing industry as
there are some specific industries such as the automotive and aerospace that has utilized this
method to develop prototypes. It has been observed from the study that the stability and safety
provided by the products developed by 3D printing are almost similar to that of the products that
are manufactured through the traditional methods. It has been found that the utilization of this
technology in the development of the aircraft components positively impacts the overall weight
of the aircraft. Moreover, it contributes in the reduction of the carbon dioxide emission and saves
fuel. The 3D technology has also been used in the health care industry for some time now. The
term used for the 3D printing in the medical field is “additive manufacturing.” There are various
elements that are being manufactured in the medical sector such as the dental components and
the hip joints and are readily used by the doctors from around the world. The extent of 3D
printing technology has reached to the level that now there are some of the researchers who are
trying to replicate the human cells that can be used to replace the defective part of the
individuals. One might witness artificial human internal organs in the coming days if everything
went as desired and planned.
The use of 3D printing can be observed in the other sectors also. There are some fashion
designers and architects who are orienting towards this technology to develop models. Items
such as shoes, buildings, and even the eatable pizza are being developed by the 3D printing
technologies. 3D printing technology is the technology of replication done by the machines and
there is no limit to what can be replicated. One can view the development in the market
concerned with the 3D printing. Moreover, it is expected that in the near future most of the
industries will be substantially using this technology. This will allow the businesses to procure
and produce locally. Therefore, one can expect the impact it can have on the logistics industry.
This paper has tried to understand the same. The implication of the 3D advancement on the
logistics industry is the major area that is being investigated in this paper.
Research Rationale
The reason behind understanding the implication of the 3D printing technology is that this
technology seems to be at the forefront of the new era. However, there has been limited research
in this field and fewer researchers have shown interests in conducting the academic study.
Therefore, it has been understood by far that conduction of some more study in this field which
can help the industry understand this technology better is imperative. Considering this aspect,
this paper has been presented based on various research questions, aims, and objectives.
Research Aim
The research aim for this paper is to understand the implications of 3D printing for the global
logistics industry.

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Research Objectives
Based on the research aim, mentioned below are the research objectives that have been defined:
- To assess the current developments of 3D printing technology
- To find out whether 3D printing will offer opportunities for mass customization and
decentralized production
- To evaluate the impact of the technology on global logistics industry in the next 10 years
- To improve overall understanding and provide an answer to as whether it is feasible for
3D printing to transform global transportation and warehousing
Research Questions
The study of some of the papers developed by the various researchers led to the understanding
that there exists close relationship between the 3D technology development and manufacturing
and logistics. Though the focus of the paper is to understand the 3D printing technology in
relation to the logistics, there are some of the research questions that have been defined which
will be used as the guide to take ahead the research further. The research paper is intended to
focus on the below mentioned questions while moving ahead with the study:
Central Question
What is the impact of 3D printing technology on the global logistics industry in the next decade?
Sub-research questions
1. What are the current developments in the 3D printing industry?
This question will help the researcher in getting proper insight into the developments that have
been done in the 3D printing industry. The purpose of investigating this question is to get an
overview of the various advancements and activities that have being conducted in this area.
Moreover, the investigation will help in understanding the overall scope of this technology.
2. How 3D printing technology impact manufacturing?
This sub research question has been defined to understand the way 3D printing is impacting the
manufacturing sector on global scale. The question will help the researcher in understanding the
impact in quantitative terms. Moreover, the researcher will try to understand that whether the use
of 3D printing technology in manufacturing bring any kind of competitive advantage to the
company involved in the same.
3. How 3D printing technology impact supply chains?
The question has been defined to understand whether 3D printing will have influence on the
supply chains or the logistics and if yes, then the extent of the same will be assessed. While

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
understanding this question, the inner supply chain activities will be understood, and then the
same will be assessed in comparison to the logistics that are concerned with the 3D printing.
4. What is the impact of 3D printing on the global logistics in the next two decade?
This question will help the researcher in understanding the future of 3D printing in global
logistics. The time period that has been taken for the assessment is two decades. It is the most
sought after aspect of the 3D printing technology that interests numerous individuals from the
manufacturing and logistics industry and, therefore, taking a close look at the same would be an
appreciable step for this research.
Research Scope
The paper that has been developed has certain limitations that cannot be ignored while studying
this report. The limitation of time has been the major constraint while preparing this paper.
Mentioned below are some of the scopes that have been defined which will be kept in
consideration while the work on this paper will be conducted:
- The global aspect has been chosen for the study as most of the information can be
gathered on global perspective rather than the location specific study.
- The logistic aspect that has been considered refers majorly to the sea routes as the focus
has been on the global aspect. The use of trucks and other minor road transportation
elements have not been consider as they may hamper the study of the global aspect.
Moreover, time consumption sought by such study would be extensive which is limited.
- The time period that has been considered to understand the future implications is 20
years.
- As the focus of this study is towards the 3D printing of the products and the
transportation of the same. Therefore, the attention will be kept on the products that can
be packed within the containers and transported.
- The study has concerned itself mainly with the advancements in the 3D technology and
the implications of the same on the logistics. Therefore, the various micro variables of a
particular country and the political situation of that country have not been picked up.
- The focus will be kept on the stakeholders who are of substantial size as the focus is the
global logistics.
Summary
The paper has tried to understand the implication of advancement in 3D printing on the global
logistics. The paper will be consulting various past researches to understand the growth the
impact it can have on the global supply chain. The 3D printing technology is expected to
substantially impact the manufacturing and supply chain industry and, therefore, it would be a
wise decision to understand this aspect with greater attention. There are certain limitations to this
research and, therefore, the whole research has been limited to certain premise such as keeping
major focus on global aspect and negligibly considering the local or minor aspects of logistics or

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
3D printing. The paper will be addressing central research question with four sub-research
questions. The whole paper is based on certain research aims and objectives. The next chapter is
concerned with reviewing the past literature developed by various researchers on 3D printing
technology. Moreover, the analysis of the various research papers will be focused on the global
logistics and the way changes can be witnessed in the same due to the advancements.
Literature Review
9500
The literature review is concerned with understanding the studies that have in done in reference
to the 3D printing and global logistics by the various researchers. The studies concerning the 3D
printing technology and manufacturing are in abundance however the direct correlational study
of 3D printing technology and logistics are limited. This chapter will try to assess the various
studies and reach certain inference in relation to the research questions defined earlier.
3D Printing and Advancements
There have been various technological advancements that have impacted the human lives in
some way or the other. This field can be attributed as having comparatively more profound
impact on the human civilization than other advancements. Most of the technologies were
disruptive in nature. One such technology is 3D printing, which is gradually making its mark on
the human civilization (Gill and Hart, 2016). It is the expectation of the proponents of this
technology that there are various activities within the industry that are going to be obsolete in the
near future if the desired outcome associated with the 3D printing is achieved.
3D printing is also referred to as additive manufacturing. It has been termed as additive as it
creates object by adding something over the other. Traditionally, the process of manufacturing
was subtractive, that is the parts were molded and something were chiseled out to create
something. However, after the advancements in the manufacturing technologies, now the one
element is added with another to create something else. The 3D printing technology is one such
element with advanced capability (Lipson and Kurman, 2013). The use of 3D printing is getting
wider each passing day and various sectors are gradually accepting this technology. However, it
is only the initial phase of 3D technology and there is lot of developments one can witness in the
coming days.
The proponents of 3D printing technology have no doubt about the potential of this technology.
The 3DP technology has been widely covered by various researchers, and mainstream media.
Most claims with great confidence that the 3D printing technology will impact the current
manufacturing to greater extent and it might be possible that current manufacturing processes
might become obsolete. Moreover, one can expect this technology to break all the external
barriers such as geopolitical, economic or social and will be adopted by large number of
organizations around the world.

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
The major differentiating factor concerned with this technology is that, it is additive in nature.
The method of manufacturing allows the 3D printer to build parts at micro scale (sub mm scale).
One can clearly differentiate this technology from the basic manufacturing methods that are
existent around the industry. The traditional industries that are prevalent nowadays have
numerous limitations and one of them is the involvement of the human effort in manufacturing
the products (Bose et al, 2013). However, there are various technological advancements that can
be witnessed which have improved the way manufacturing is being done. Most of the tasks are
now being automated, but still they require human involvement to most extent. All these
traditional manufacturing methods that are being applied till date are using the subtracting
method for the production. That is, they subtract the big chunk of raw material to build desired
object. This can be observed as one of the major limitation of the traditional manufacturing
industry. The subtractive method prefers the utilization of the tools and fixtures for assembling
the various parts to form a structure.
Moreover, the traditional manufacturing process ends up wasting most of the raw materials
during chiseling out the useful parts. This method is in complete contrast to what 3D printing
technology has proposed. In 3D printing, the objects are developed by the addition of the
material one layer after another. 3D printing allows the manufacturing organizations to build
creative objects with complex designs (muth et al, 2014). Moreover, it gives freedom to the
individuals and organizations to think more creatively regarding the product designs without
concerning about the constraints such as costs and time. 3D printing allows development of
complex geometric objects. It has been stated by some of the researchers that the 3D printing is
an energy efficient technology. Moreover, it is expected to increase the efficiencies of the
manufacturing organizations in terms of time and cost.
The 3D printing technology has moved beyond the prototyping stage and has entered the actual
arena of product development and delivery. There are various industries that have started
utilizing this technology at small scale which is expected to grow in the near future. The reason
behind the same is that the technology is readily available to the small and big manufacturing
industries. It allows them to try the technology for various purposes. 3D printers now come at
different shapes and sizes with different price tags which has increased its affordability. The least
one need to pay to acquire a 3D printer is $1000. This level of affordability has allowed the
wider audience to get the access to this technology. The increase in the adoption rate has
increased the number of experiments that were being done with various product designs.
Historical Aspect of 3D Printing
First 3D printing technology came on the horizon was in 1980s. The nomenclature for this
product was “Rapid Prototyping Technologies.” The logic behind such nomenclature was that
this technology was perceived the faster and cost-effective method for the development of
prototypes for industrial or experimental use. The patent of this new technology was held by
Charles Hull who founded 3D Systems Corporation. The commercial 3D printer first came into
existence in the year 1987. The first system was kept under rigorous trial prior to selling in in

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
1988. Around 2000s, few companies emerged with focus on developing the 3D technologies
further, namely, EnvisionTec (2002) and ExOne (2005).
The initial competition was obvious between the various 3D technological advancements. Some
of the 3D printer companies tried to focus on the development of high end 3D printers for the
development of complex objects whereas there were some that focused on the development of
the 3D printers for the masses. However it can be referred to a calm timeline. The actual game
began after the year 2007 when the market witnessed the first system that was below $10,000.
This cheapest 3D printing was developed by 3D Systems. However, this price mark still failed to
attract the many proponents of the 3D printing technologies. Most of them were expecting that
the market will flock towards this product if the price goes below $5000. Yet, the year 2007 can
be stated as the important year for the development of 3D printing technologies. Dr. Bowyer
came up with the RepRap concept, which is an open-source method and acts as self-replicating
3D printer. The concept was found by Dr. Bowyer in the year 2004 however it didn’t take to
shoot before 2007. The year 2009 saw the major advancement in the 3D printing technology
when the first 3D printer kit was brought to the market which completely based on the
methodologies devised in RepRap. The name of this system was “BfB RapMan 3D.”
Some of the companies showed interest in RepRap concept however the major utilization of
RepRap was towards the open source community and developing the technology for fun.
Commercialization was not even near to this. The year 2012 saw the actual commercialization of
this technology with the introduction of the alternative 3D printing processes. The market saw
‘B9Creator’ and ‘From 1’ which came in June. The funding for the both the technologies were
done through Kickstarter.
The various advancements in the various aspects of the 3D printing from different companies
helped the 3D printing technology to reach new heights. The year 2012 saw the attraction
towards this technology from the various media channels. The year 2013 also witnessed
significant growth in the 3D technologies and still in continuation.
3D Printing Technology
The initiation of the 3D printing results into the 3D model of objects. There is different software
that is used for the development of the 3D objects. 3D CAD is the most preferred software that is
used by the industry engineers. Different files are created as per the required layers and then they
are filed into the system. The 3D printers are of different types with different purposes. There are
various materials that are used in 3D printing and the most basics are functional plastics, sand,
and ceramics. Some of the research is being done towards the development of bio products such
as foods. The most preferred material that is used in 3D printing is plastic. Sugar and chocolate
are also used in some of the specially designed 3D printers. The technologies used in the
different printers are different from one another. Despite so many benefits, there are also some
major limitations such as to design one category of product the 3D printer must be embedded

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
with product specific design and technology. There are 3D printers that only work with the
powdered material.
Another important aspect that needs to be understood about the 3D printers is that one cannot
simply purchase the product and use at normal device. It requires various initial steps that need
care prior to bring the actual product live. The major benefit is that, as the various parts can be
developed directly from the machine. Therefore, one just needs to develop the design of the
product and the rest of the activity can be handled by the machine.
3D Printing Process
There are various 3D printing processes that are utilized and the first process that was the
preferred most was Stereo-lithography (SL). The reason behind its popularity can be the
commercialization of the process. It is a laser based method. The photopolymer resins are
generally utilized. The process within SL is comparatively complex. The use of laser beam on
the resins hardens the surface as per the designed defined by the manufacturer. One of the
challenges in this process is that it requires the support structure for certain parts. Moreover, the
objects developed through the SL require be cleaning and curing. The process of curing is
concerned with further hardening the resins using the light intense environment. SL process has
been stated as one of the accurate process so far as it helps provide effective finishing of the
object surface. As stated earlier, despite these benefits the steps that are required to be taken in
the later stage makes it a challenging process to some extent.
Another processing method is, DLP (Digital Light Processing). It is almost similar to the SL as it
also utilizes photopolymers in the development. The difference between both is that one uses the
conventional lamp light rather than intense light. The DLP method is comparatively faster than
SL in terms of processing through light. Moreover, DLP is almost similar to SL in the
development of the accurate object and finishing. The similarities also extend to the demerit that
is the use of support at some of the development process. One of the major benefits is that DLP
wastes less resins than SL.
Apart from the two processes mentioned above there are also various other process that has been
developed. Some of them are highly advanced such as EBM (Electron Beam Melting) 3D
printing.
3D Printing, Manufacturing, and Supply Chains
Summary
Research Methodology
1500

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Summary
Results and Discussion
3400
Summary
Conclusion
1800
References
Gill, J. M., & Hart, A. S. (2016). Opening New Frontiers in the Development of Life Sciences
Technology with Collaborative 3D Printing Technology. Journal of Laboratory Automation,
21(4), 487-488.
Sun, K., Wei, T. S., Ahn, B. Y., Seo, J. Y., Dillon, S. J., & Lewis, J. A. (2013). 3D Printing of
interdigitated Li‐ion microbattery architectures. Advanced Materials, 25(33), 4539-4543.
Lipson, H., & Kurman, M. (2013). Fabricated: The new world of 3D printing. John Wiley &
Sons.
Bose, S., Vahabzadeh, S., & Bandyopadhyay, A. (2013). Bone tissue engineering using 3D
printing. Materials Today, 16(12), 496-504.
Muth, J. T., Vogt, D. M., Truby, R. L., Mengüç, Y., Kolesky, D. B., Wood, R. J., & Lewis, J. A.
(2014). Embedded 3D printing of strain sensors within highly stretchable elastomers. Advanced
Materials, 26(36), 6307-6312.
Gross, B. C., Erkal, J. L., Lockwood, S. Y., Chen, C., & Spence, D. M. (2014). Evaluation of 3D
printing and its potential impact on biotechnology and the chemical sciences. Analytical
chemistry, 86(7), 3240-3253.
Ventola, C. L. (2014). Medical applications for 3D printing: current and projected uses.
Pharmacy and Therapeutics, 39(10), 704.
Ambrosi, A., & Pumera, M. (2016). 3D-printing technologies for electrochemical applications.
Chemical Society Reviews, 45(10), 2740-2755.

IMPLICATIONS OF 3D PRINTING FOR THE GLOBAL LOGISTICS INDUSTRY
Compton, B. G., & Lewis, J. A. (2014). 3D‐printing of lightweight cellular composites.
Advanced Materials, 26(34), 5930-5935.
Wang, W., Wang, T. Y., Yang, Z., Liu, L., Tong, X., Tong, W., ... & Liu, X. (2013). Cost-
effective printing of 3D objects with skin-frame structures. ACM Transactions on Graphics
(TOG), 32(6), 177.
Baskaran, V., Štrkalj, G., Štrkalj, M., & Di Ieva, A. (2016). Current Applications and Future
Perspectives of the Use of 3D Printing in Anatomical Training and Neurosurgery. Frontiers in
Neuroanatomy, 10.
Manners-Bell, J., & Lyon, K. (2012). The implications of 3D printing for the global logistics
industry. Transport Intelligence, 1-5.
Tatham, P., Loy, J., & Peretti, U. (2014). 3D Printing (3DP): A Humanitarian Logistic Game
Changer. 12th ANZAM Operations, Supply Chain and Services Management Symposium.
Auckland, Australia: Australian & New Zealand Academy of Management.
Van Assen, M., Hans, E., & Van De Velde, S. (2000). An agile planning and control framework
for customer‐order driven discrete parts manufacturing environments. International Journal of
Agile Management Systems, 2(1), 16 - 23.
Markillie, P. (2012). A third industrial revolution. Retrieved February 26, 2013, from The
Economist: http://www.economist.com/node/21552901
Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. New York: Crown Business.