3D Printing Technology: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Recommendations

This report provides a comprehensive overview of 3D printing technology, examining its various applications and implications for business operations. It begins by introducing the concept of 3D printing and its increasing relevance in the market, particularly for companies focusing on customer handling. The report delves into different 3D printing technologies, including FDM, SLS, digital light processing, continuous liquid interface production, and stereo lithography, explaining their unique processes and materials used. It then explores the diverse applications of 3D printing in manufacturing, prototyping, and dental mining, highlighting the benefits such as cost savings, faster production, and design flexibility. Furthermore, the report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing, including the potential for counterfeiting and raw material limitations. The report concludes with recommendations for organizations considering adopting this technology, offering insights to help them make informed decisions and leverage the full potential of 3D printing.

Running head: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Information Technology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Executive Summary:
The report mainly discusses about an organization which is planning to adopt the 3D
printing technology for facilitating their various business operations. The CEO of this
organization has decided to adopt this technology because this technology would be bringing a
lot of advantages in their manufacturing processes. Investigation has been conducted in this
report regarding the usage and application of the 3D technology and how this technology would
be favoring the organization. In this report five different type of 3d printing technology has been
discussed. Besides this the report has also discussed about the advantages and the disadvantages
of this technology. Lastly the report concludes with few recommendations which would be very
much helpful for the organization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Discussion Part................................................................................................................................5
3D Printing Technology..............................................................................................................5
FDM Technology or the Fused Deposition Modeling.............................................................6
SLS Technology......................................................................................................................7
Digital Light Processing..........................................................................................................7
Continuous liquid interface production...................................................................................7
Stereo Lithography..................................................................................................................7
3D printing technology applications............................................................................................8
Manufacturing..........................................................................................................................8
Prototyping:.............................................................................................................................9
Dental mining:.........................................................................................................................9
Benefits of 3D printing..................................................................................................................11
Large amount of manufacturing:...............................................................................................11
High prototyping....................................................................................................................11
Production cost lesser............................................................................................................11
Eliminates the involved cost..................................................................................................12
Employees Opportunities.......................................................................................................12
Drawbacks of 3D Printing:............................................................................................................12

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Counterfeiting:.......................................................................................................................12
Dangerous items Manufacturing:..............................................................................................12
Raw materials Limitation......................................................................................................13
Conclusion:....................................................................................................................................13
Recommendations:........................................................................................................................13
References:....................................................................................................................................15

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Introduction
The idea of the 3D printing is new to the market. A firm in the Australia which is not
large by size thought to implement the 3D printing technology. In the recent scenario the firm is
concentrating on the customer handling like the corporate and the retail customers. To represent
the physical structure of the object in a digital way is the main objective of the 3D printing
technology. The printing has to be perfect like the detailing has to be present in the printed thing
less imperfections has to be there in the image. There are several aspects that need to be care of
to complete the project like the project plan, cost, implementation, complexity and many more.
Different types of he objects are made in some thin layers and to make these layers less time id
needed in the construction. When the product is constructed in the thick layer then it may tend to
provide the details. The thickness of the layers basically made upon the ides like the size of the
material are mainly used that materials are used in the smallest of units.
The report will further discuss the ideas related with this technology. The report will
describe the certain details of the 3D printing technology. There are mainly three technologies
that are associated with this 3D printing technology those three technologies also discussed in the
further report. There are certain advantages of any technology and in the report the advantages
and the disadvantagesof the 3D printing technology also provided. Certain issues can be
generated with the 3D technology as the technology is new to the market so there are some
recommendations given in the last portion of the report.

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Discussion Part
3D Printing Technology
The concept of implementing 3D printing technology is an adaptive process in the field
of printing technology. The 3Dprinting technology uses various materials for allowing the small
scale production of the objects the 3D printing is associated. Basically various type of powders
and the plastics are combined in this technology. According to the materials need there are
different ways of adaptive processes are applied in the 3D printing technology. there are many
things that involves in a project in this technology the aspects that are taken care of are the
objects that are laminated, the budget, the material that can melt and the resins. The various
shapes and the designs of the objects are outlined by the computer aided desing in the 3D
printing technology. Various kind of digital scanning devices are using these technologies. A
system is there whose job is to store the entire detail of the object and to check the different
processes that are linked with the desired object which is to be made. We made image in the
different application and the 3D printing is different among the all. The main focus of the 3D
printing technology is to print nozzles. This technology is implemented in different layers by
using the materials. Until the final desired outcome is generated several layers are continuously
made by the system. Various technologies are associated with the 3D printing technology like
the SLS technology, FDM technology and many other technologies as well. The applications that
are included with the digital light processing, stereo lithography, continuous liquid interface
production, multi jet printers and many more can be easily used in the technology. when the
metal is used by an individual then the individual can use several technologies like the direct
metal laser sintering, DLP and builder jetting, electron beam melting, deposition of selective

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lamination, triple jetting technology. the different methods associated with the 3D printing
technology is discussed below:
FDM Technology or the Fused Deposition Modeling
The FDM technology is very important to enter in the market. The FDM technology is
provide the opportunity to a system to enter into the market. FDM technology is one of the
famous printing technology form that are currently present in the market. Various kind of metals
that are extracted from the manufacturing of the nozzles that are located in the cross section of
the 3D printing technology. And this process is the particular process that uses the 3D printing
nozzles different kind of extracted metals (Žarko et al., 2017).
Fig 1: Fused Deposition Modeling Technology
(Source: Zou et al., 2015)

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SLS Technology
One of the famous and renowned technologies of the 3D printing is the laser sintering.
This SLS technology mainly focuses on the various type of objects fabrication. By using the
processes of the melting in the successive layers the fabrication is easily achieved. This process
is mainly use to combine the entire powered objects (Zou et al., 2015). This type of processing
leads to a complex formation forms. In the form of plastic, it is basically available in the market
which is also called as the Alumide.
Digital Light Processing
This technology is very well known to the market. Photopolymer resins are used in this
kind of technology. The main job of the photopolymer resin is same as the UV laser that is used
for the curing purpose of the photopolymer resin (Patel et al., 2017). These results by creating a
area for the uncured resin that are presents in the bottom of the particular container.
Continuous liquid interface production
Based on the UV images and in order to sequence the projects this technology is made
method to use these. The method generation gets easier by taking the help of the projectors that
are based on the digital lights. Transparent in nature that is the form of oxygen premade widow,
and this is done by taking the help of this (Lee et al., 2016).
Stereo Lithography
With the certain creation of the Vat that is considered to be resin of curable
photopolymer type, this stereo lithography is mainly associated with. In the form of the small
increments with the liquid kind of polymer, the plate of the building descends gradually (Dong et

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al., 2016). This is initially exposed to different kind of UV laser light which is drawn by various
sections.
Fig 2: StereoLithography
(Source : Bhushan & Caspers 2017)
3D printing technology applications
The area in which the 3D printing is applied is discussed below:
Manufacturing: the user always demands a faster and proper form of the prototype designing
along with the proper verification and the tested designs. The manufacturer is hugely benefited
as they are getting adopted with the faster processes and real mass based production techniques.

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The 3d printing technology is capable of adding layers which can save the cost of the processes
and it is also flexible for the company. Besides helping with the production cost save and
providing efficient products it can be used for various kind of testing purpose as well for the
small parts manufacturing. For making the tools for the assembly this is also used based upon the
orders. According to the tasks these tools of the assembly can be modified (Bhushan & Caspers
2017). Manufacturing environment that is learner based is also possible in this and can be used
for the different purposes. For the fast production also this can be used whenever the speeding up
the process of the manufacturing is required it will have applied the processes. Low volume of
the data can be configured easily by the 3D printing technology. and it can be used for the proper
finishing of the processes in a smooth way. With the cost reduction this technology also reduces
the time also. It also helps to create an efficient supply chain with new models of the business by
reducing the inventory cost.
Prototyping: 3D printing is used all over the world in the recent times to do the different
things prototyping in the all organizations. Prototyping is a method that is very effective in terms
of the development of the processes it reduces most times that is involves in a project
implementation. Prototyping has been considered as a key to get success in the market.
Prototyping is a method of making a demo of the final product that is costly in the market. After
evaluating the prototypes the final products are made (Macdonald et al., 2014). In the case of the
technologies that are innovative this prototyping techniques can be used for saving the time also
by doing faster processes. 3D printing is such kind of printing where the main base is upon the
prototypes that are having the functional characters. The o prevent various kind of the critical
issues the protypes has the ability in the system.
Dental mining:

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The dental mining named APEX is the dental mining that adopted the technology
based on the CAD/CAM. The technology is based on the CAD design and this can be used to
produce the right dental parts according to the design. The 3D printing technology is becoming
an in house based though the out sourcing of the product is to the technology that is CNC based.
The apex is mainly uses for the cost benefit as is lowering the cost of the system (Kalemaj et al.,
2016). Various business solutions is given by the system to provide different benefits for the
business. There are various advantages that are gained from this like product quality, less time
for processing and many more. Various types of the printing models provides the final details
and excellent finishing services.
Advantage and Disadvantage of 3D technology
The 3D printing technology is growing rapidly and it becomes well known in the current
market. There are several advantages and the disadvantages of this technology. The Nano scribe
created a Photonic Professional GT that can be considered as the famous 3D printer. The device
has the ability to print different 3D objects that are having different types of width. The size of
the width are very small and it is as small as the human hair and the width are also comes up
with a great precision. Different kind of 3D models is used for printing the different kind of
layers of the object. It can be said that when a user is using the blue print of CAD for any kind of
object like a toy bike can be printed in the three dimensional by easy way (Lee, An & Chua
2017).
Several benefits that arte gained from the 3D printing technology is given bellow:

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Benefits of 3D printing
Large amount of manufacturing:
It is become easy to manufacture a large number of products by using the 3d printing
technology. The process becomes easier and convenient for the users and the manufacturers of
the products. By using the technology the customer satisfaction can be met as by the technology
is can be implemented as per the need of the customers for the product (Lu, Li & Tian 2015).
Making the desired and the planed object becomes so smooth to be implemented. This
technology provides a platform for the individuals to us the 3D printing technology.
High prototyping:
The 3D printing technologies can be used for making different types of object in less time
that the required needed time. The rapid prototyping is used in the 3d printing technology in
order to meet the customer satisfaction. To make the desired product in a short time span various
prototypes can be made.
Production cost lesser:
The required cost for the 3D printing technology is very less. To compare with the other
product development processes that use different products and the labors this technology is much
low cost that the others. To manufacture the product there are many other costs as well and those
costs are also conventional. For a small scale reproduction and for a mass scale production the
costs involved are same for the both for using the 3d printing technology.

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Eliminates the involved cost:
There can be a issue generate with the storage when it comes to produce a mass amount
of products. In the production of small scale goods the production value get higher and this is
making the use of the 3D printing technology. For only mass production 3D printing is needed
that helps to delete the issues with the production. It also detects the issues that are generated
during the mass production related to the storages and additional costs.
Employees Opportunities:
As the use of the 3d printing technology is growing faster the requirement for the
efficient and good designers are also needed to provide the good quality product. This create a
huge employment opportunities for the designers. The opportunities are given to the people who
are focused in the trouble shooting and the people that are associated with the 3D printing usage.
Drawbacks of 3D Printing:
Counterfeiting:
One of the biggest drawbacks of the 3D printing is the counterfeiting. This can be
seen in the case of mass manufacturing. In mainly happens when the huge amount of the fake
product is made. The people associated with the technology have taken this particular technology
for getting the idea of the blue print. This is the reason that affect in tracing the fake items in the
market.
Dangerous items Manufacturing:

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Various dangerous items can be made by using the 3d printing technology like
gun, bomb or any kind of weapon. This can be done so easily by pressing a button on the mouse
or the keyboard. The Childs are also having the ability to use this technology and they can print
something that is nature is hazardous.
Raw materials Limitation:
This technology is associated with the manufacturer of the huge number of
products that are made by various kinds of raw materials.
Conclusion:
From the above report it can be concluded that the report is about a emerging technology
that is 3D printing technology. a Melbourne based firm is having the plan of adopting the 3d
printing technology. In the above report five different 3D printing technologies and their
implementation is described. Developments and the drawbacks of the technology is is also
provided in the report. The advantage and the advantages that are related to the 3d printing
technology is described. The benefits of the 3d printing are also discussed above. Furthermore,
several recommendation regarding the 3d printing technology is discussed below.
Recommendations:
The organization is planning of adopting the 3D printing technology and for that reason
some recommendations have been provided and the recommendations are listed below:

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 The major reason due to which the company should adopt this technology is because it is
eco-friendly.
 The quality of life as well as the welfare of the things would be greatly improved by use
of this technology.
 The prototype modeling would be greatly improved and would be done at a rapid rate by
the use of this technology and this would be initially helping in the increase of
production.
 This technology comes in huge variety and provides a lot of option regarding
customization.

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References:
Bhushan, B., & Caspers, M. (2017). An overview of additive manufacturing (3D printing) for
microfabrication. Microsystem Technologies, 23(4), 1117-1124.
Dong, D. C., Shan, B., Qiu, Y. J., Shi, C. C., Gao, Y. L., & Chen, R. (2016). PREPARATION
AND STUDY OF STEREOLITHOGRAPHY PHOTOSENSITIVE RESIN BASED ON
405 NM UV LIGHT SOURCE. In Material Engineering and Mechanical Engineering:
Proceedings of Material Engineering and Mechanical Engineering (MEES2015) (pp.
506-515).
Kalemaj, Z., Scarano, A., Valbonetti, L., Rapone, B., & Grassi, F. R. (2016). Bone Response to
Four Dental Implants with Different Surface Topographies: A Histologic and Histometric
Study in Minipigs. International Journal of Periodontics & Restorative Dentistry, 36(5).
Lee, J. Y., An, J., & Chua, C. K. (2017). Fundamentals and applications of 3D printing for novel
materials. Applied Materials Today, 7, 120-133.
Lee, J. Y., Tan, W. S., An, J., Chua, C. K., Tang, C. Y., Fane, A. G., & Chong, T. H. (2016). The
potential to enhance membrane module design with 3D printing technology. Journal of
Membrane Science, 499, 480-490.
Lu, B., Li, D., & Tian, X. (2015). Development trends in additive manufacturing and 3d
printing. Engineering, 1(1), 85-89.
Macdonald, E., Salas, R., Espalin, D., Perez, M., Aguilera, E., Muse, D., & Wicker, R. B. (2014).
3D printing for the rapid prototyping of structural electronics. IEEE Access, 2, 234-242.

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Patel, D. K., Sakhaei, A. H., Layani, M., Zhang, B., Ge, Q., & Magdassi, S. (2017). Highly
stretchable and UV curable elastomers for digital light processing based 3D
printing. Advanced Materials, 29(15).
Žarko, J., Vladić, G., Pál, M., & Dedijer, S. (2017). Influence of printing speed on production of
embossing tools using fdM 3d printing technology. Journal of Graphic Engineering and
Design, 8(1), 19.
Zou, W., Fisher, T., Zhang, M., Kim, L., Chen, T., Narra, V., ... & Teo, B. K. K. (2015).
Potential of 3D printing technologies for fabrication of electron bolus and proton
compensators. Journal of applied clinical medical physics, 16(3), 90-98.