3D Printing: Revolutionizing Manufacturing

This assignment delves into the world of 3D printing, examining its process and diverse applications across various industries. It highlights the advantages of 3D printing over traditional manufacturing methods, emphasizing its ability to offer customization and efficiency. The report focuses on the role of 3D printing in revolutionizing additive manufacturing by making it more versatile and accessible. Specific examples include medical implants, prosthetic limbs, and dental devices.

Running head: BACHELORS OF BUSINESS
Bachelors of Business
Name of the Student
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Author Note

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Executive Summary
The main aim of the report is to discuss the process and the advantages of 3D printing. The
process of 3D printing is also referred to as additive manufacturing and it deals with the addition
of successive layers. The report further discusses the different use of 3D printing and additive
manufacturing. The future trend of 3D printing is also discussed in this report.

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Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
1. Why is 3D printing more appropriately called additive manufacturing?........................3
2. Is 3D printing better suited for high or low volumes of production?..............................4
3. In what situations is 3D printing most valuable?.............................................................5
4. What do the leading research and investment firms forecast for 3D printing?...............5
5. Is 3D printing making tradition manufacturing obsolete?...............................................6
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Three dimensional printing or additive manufacturing is a technology that is gaining a
gradual traction and is capable of changing the world. It is a revolutionary and emerging
technology that can add a new dimension to the process of traditional designing and
manufacturing. The technology of 3D printing is gradually gaining popularity for its implications
in economic, social, demographic and environment field. Additive manufacturing or AM offers a
new paradigm for the engineering drawings and designs, which has a profound implication in
geopolitical, economic and demographic implications. Additive manufacture can have a
profound effect and impact on the manufacturing world and can acts as a primary step in
protection of environment as well as in resource productivity (Campbell, Williams, Ivanova, &
Garrett, 2011). The report discusses the process of three dimensional printing and additive
manufacturing. It further discusses the different situations in which the 3D printing is most
valuable. The different implications of three dimensional printing are elaborated in the following
paragraphs.
1. Why is 3D printing more appropriately called additive manufacturing?
Three dimensional printing is a process by which a digital image in converted into a 3 D
image or prototype. This process is generally done by the adding subsequent layers of materials
to give a three dimensional appearance. Since the process of 3D printing involves creation of an
image by successive addition of layers of materials back to back, it is often referred to as additive
manufacturing. This layers are of limited thickness, which generally lies between 16 to 180
micron. Since the process of 3D printing involves addition of thinly sliced layers, a horizontal
cross section of the image reveals the presence of the layers. Therefore, this process of additive

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manufacturing, which is also referred to as 3 D printing is used for construction of objects and
complex shapes quite effectively. The striking differences between three dimensional printing
and additive manufacturing is that, with the help of 3D printing, complex shapes can be built
more effectively and with a use of very less materials. The procedure of printing a three
dimensional model is even easier. A digital file or an image is developed in a computer system
using CAD. This image is followed for development of the 3D model by successive addition of
the horizontal layers (Chua & Leong, 2014). This layers are generally sliced with the help of a
slicing software. After the completion of the addition of successive layers, the whole thing is fed
into the 3 D printing machine for development of the complete prototype.
2. Is 3D printing better suited for high or low volumes of production?
The development of prototype of the different parts of a project and object is essential for
successful implementation of a project. However, in case of low volume production,
development of prototypes with the traditional manufacturing process is a matter of huge cost
investment and therefore three dimensional printing is mostly used in such cases. Developing a
three dimensional image finds its use in conceptualization and testing of different prototypes. It
is generally used by the designers and engineers for that particular use and therefore it finds an
effective use in low volume production. Three dimensional printing eliminates the use of tooling
and it is therefore preferred by small manufacturer, as additive manufacturing eliminates the
need and usage of the different production tools that is generally used in traditional
manufacturing.
Low volume production cannot afford the higher prices of production and therefore the
use of three dimensional printing is wide spread in this case. Furthermore, the bulk or large

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amount of production mostly rely on the traditional manufacturing. The cost of designing and
testing the prototypes is considerably low in case of three dimensional printing and hence it finds
its use in production of low volume (Weller, Keeer, & Piller, 2015). However, now a day, the
process of additive manufacturing has extensive use in large volume production, due to its
simplicity and ease of usage. It is less time consuming than traditional manufacturing as well.
Therefore, it can be appropriately said that the both low and high level production makes use of
three dimensional printing or additive manufacturing.
3. In what situations is 3D printing most valuable?
Three dimensional printing has extensive usage, one of which being its implication in the
field of medicine. The process of three dimensional printing finds its extensive use in production
of hearing aids and researches proves that over 90% of the hearing aids are now made with the
help of 3D printing (Suchubert , Van Langeveld, & Donoso, 2014). Apart from this, the process
of three dimensional printing has made it possible to transform imagination into a reality within
seconds. The development of ideas in form of prototypes and designs taken much less time in 3D
printing than it used to take in traditional manufacturing. 3D printing is valuable in low volume
production as it considerably helps in cost cutting and saving money. The traditional process of
using different mold tools such as prototype injection is more expensive in comparison to 3D
printing. Therefore, additive manufacturing or 3D printing is often used as a risk mitigating
process and technique as the design and development of prototype becomes easier (Gibson,
Rosen, & Stucker, 2014). Therefore, it can be said that the process of 3D printing is valuable in
giving a particular shape to an imagination, which could not have been possible otherwise.
4. What do the leading research and investment firms forecast for 3D printing?

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Different researches proves that the technology of 3D printing or additive manufacturing
will have a profound effect in the field of engineering, automotive, aerospace and in medical as
well. The recent researches prove that 3D printing is capable of gaining a momentum within the
next decade and will reach the take-off point very soon. The Ganter report shows that the 3D
printing is a technology that can effectively act as a transformation in the field of trigger phase of
hype cycle (Campbell, Williams, Ivanova, & Garrett, 2011). Printing of metal components have
been possible in the recent years with the advent of additive manufacturing. The engineers are
making use of the 3D printing for fabricating different components from titanium and steel
alloys. It has significantly brought a revolution in the field of engineering and design and is
therefore capable of bringing a significant change in the world of printing in near future. One of
the technology of 3D printing that is capable of gaining a broader acceptance in industrial use is
the cutting edge technology (Wong & Hernandez, 2012). It is considered as a primary need for
emergence in design and manufacturing standard. Therefore, according to the forecast of the
leading firms, it can be said that 3D printing is going to occupy a huge market area in near
future.
5. Is 3D printing making tradition manufacturing obsolete?
3D printing is playing a significant role in making the process of traditional
manufacturing obsolete. This is mainly because of its increasing use in the different industry for
designing, developing and testing of the prototypes. The major advantage of traditional
manufacturing is that, it does not require any special tooling unlike traditional manufacturing,
which in turn help in saving a lot of time. It uses specialized equipment for layer to layer
assembling of objects that ultimately leads to the development of a three-dimensional image or
an object.

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Another advantage of 3D printing is that; the process of rework can be done relatively
faster unlike traditional manufacturing. The re-assembling or rework on the prototype built by
the process of traditional manufacturing requires a considerably larger time in retooling the line
for churning out the different parts of the prototype. This results in a considerable loss of time,
money, material and labor (Vaezi, Seitz, & Yang, 2013). Therefore, production companies prefer
using 3D printing over traditional manufacturing due to the advantages it offers.
Furthermore, the process of 3D printing is way more resource efficient than that of
traditional manufacturing. This is possible as the materials that will be consumed is only passed
through the extruder of the printer. In contrast to this, the traditional manufacturing process
requires more extra materials for mold filling. Therefore, 3D printing is more widely used, which
is making the process of traditional manufacturing obsolete (Lipson & Kurman, 2013).
The major benefit of the 3D printing is that it allows customization of the products
according to the specification of the object (Berman, 2012). Therefore, it is capable of occupying
a large part of the business in recent times. In addition to this, the process of 3D printed implant
finds an extensive use in increasing the quality of life of the people. The titanium bone implants,
prosthetic limbs and the devices that dentists use have varied implication on 3D printing, which
is gradually making the traditional manufacturing obsolete (Ventola, 2014).
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concluded that the process of 3D printing
has extensive use in different field. The report discusses the process of 3D printing and its
application in different field. The process of 3D printing is called additive manufacturing as
different successive layers are added in developing the object. The report focusses on the

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advantages of 3D printing over additive manufacturing and the role of 3D printing in making the
process of additive manufacturing obsolete.

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Works Cited
Berman, B. (2012). 3-D printing: The new industrial revolution. Business horizons. Business
horizons, 55(2), 155-162.
Campbell, T., Williams, C., Ivanova, O., & Garrett, B. (2011). Could 3D printing change the
world. Technologies, Potential, and implications of Additive manufacturing. Atlantic
Council, Washinton,DC.
Chua, C., & Leong, K. (2014). 3D PRINTING AND ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING: Principles
and Applications (with Companion Media Pack) of Rapid Prototyping. . World Scientific
Publishing Co Inc.
Gibson, I., Rosen, D., & Stucker, B. (2014). Additive manufacturing technologies: 3D printing,
rapid prototyping, and direct digital manufacturing. . Springer.
Lipson, H., & Kurman, M. (2013). . Fabricated: The new world of 3D printing. John Wiley &
Sons.
Suchubert , C., Van Langeveld, M., & Donoso, L. (2014). Innovations in 3D printing: a 3D
overview from optics to organs. British journal of ophthalmalogy, 98(2), 159-61.
Vaezi, M., Seitz, H., & Yang, S. (2013). . A review on 3D micro-additive manufacturing
technologies. The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology,, 1721-
175467(5-8).
Ventola, C. (2014). Medical appliations or 3D printing: current and projected uses. Pharmacy
and Theraeurics. 39(10), 704.

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Weller, C., Keeer, R., & Piller, F. (2015). Economic implications of 3D prnting: market structure
models in light of additive manufacturing revisited. International journal of production
economics,164, 43-56.
Wong, K., & Hernandez, A. (2012). A review of additive manufacturing. ISRN Mechanical
Engineering, 2012.