10 Facts on 3D Printing

1. 3D printing is a key industry to watch in 2014

Enthusiasm is high, and so is the market for 3D printing in both consumer and
enterprise space. According to Gartner research, printers under $100,000 were
expected to grow almost 50 percent in 2013, and will increase 75 percent this year.
Right now, enterprises are using the printers to prototype objects, but we'll see an
increasing amount used to make product designs this year.
SEE: 3D printing: A primer for business and technology professionals
2. 3D printers are empowering "makers"
Chris Anderson, former editor-in-chief of Wired, wrote in his book, Makers, that a
new industrial revolution is underway because of open source design and 3D
printing. Many entrepreneurs are using micro-manufacturing to create smaller
batches of customized products. And with crowdfunding sites, they don't have to
rely on venture capitalists to fund these endeavors.
3. Customization is the next step in 3D printing technology
Soon enough the question won't be how we will print things, but what we will print.
Customization is the next buzzword in the industry, according to Pete Basiliere, lead
Gartner analyst for 3D printing. Replacement parts, toys, and random designs and
schemiatics found on the internet can all be customized to fit consumer needs.
Because the machines can print one piece at a time, this can be done relatively
easily. Shapeways, for instance, is a website where customers can connect with
designers and order customized products such as jewelry and home decor.
4. There are several types of 3D printing technologies

Fused deposition modeling: MakerBot is one of the best examples of this

technology. These printers melt a plastic filament and deposit the plastic in
layers until it fills up the model. There are two types of plastic, both of which
MakerBot uses: ABS, which is sturdy and made from oil-based resources, and
PLA, which is biodegradable and made from plant-based resources.

Stereolithography: These machines use a laser to cure a resin and build

the prototype one layer at a time. Rapid prototyping, another form, doesn't use

supports to hold up the part so that it can be built faster, but in basic
stereolithography, the supports must be manually removed from the part.

Selective laser sintering: Lasers are used to sinter powdered metal,

binding the powder together to create a solid structure. After each layer is
sintered together, the structure drops and the next layer is built on top of it.

5. People are making all kinds of things with 3D printers

Check out Makerbot's Thingiversethe things people create with 3D printers are
extraordinarily creative. It's a community for makers where they can upload digital
designs or photos of objects they have made with 3D printers. The website has
more than 100,000 models and that number is growing every day. From Storm
Trooper pen cups to household planters to customizable necklaces, the options of
objects people can make are seemingly endless.
6. Ethical dilemmas of 3D printing will be a growing conversation

A Robohand was created with the MakerBot to avoid the expense of traditional
prosthetics.
Image: MakerBot

Get ready for itthe next great debate will be about the political, ethical, and
religious questions 3D printing technologies raise. This is particularly important for
bioprinting, which is already accelerating at an alarming rate. Scientists at Cornell
University successfully printed a human ear last year, and scientists in Scotland are
developing a way to print embryonic stem cells.
Another issue is weapons. In 2012,a man 3D-printed a gun and shared the
blueprints on his website (they garnered 100,000 downloads in the two days before
the U.S. State Department took them down). He successfully fired it last year,
landing himself onWired's list of deadliest people on the planet.
7. Lower prices will drive consumer adoption
As smaller companies make their own 3D printers or crowdfund them, the prices are
going to continue to drop. Already, Makerbot's smallest printerwhich will begin
shipping this spring is available for $1,375. That still seems pricy for a lot of us,
but it's quite affordable for the technology.
"Of course you're always going to have a people particularly invested in the
technology who will have the means to spend the money [on their own printer],"
Basiliere said. "But as prices come down some more and consumers start to buy
them, that number of dedicated consumers will continue to grow."
The prices for larger machines used in manufacturing enterprises are not lowering
as quickly, he added, but they will improve in performance and enhancements to
more rapidly and efficiently produce parts.
SEE: 10 industries 3D printing will disrupt or decimate
8. HP is going to get in the game at some point
The 3D printing leaders are making themselves known, but there's an elephant in
the room: when will HP join the ranks and produce this technology for the mass
market? The traditional printing giant has a five-foot-tall 3D printing prototype in
the basement of its Palo Alto research lab, and the company said they plan to
release a product this year.
"3D printing is in its infancy," CEO Meg Whitman said at a tech conference in
Bangkok last October. "It's a big opportunity and we are all over it. We will have
something by the middle of next year."

9. 3D printing is going to completely revolutionize manufacturing as we know

it

The Cube is a home 3D printer marketed to use to make toys and other small
objects.
Image: Cube
Open source electronics allow companies to iterate designs and experiment with
schematics and product parts. Eventually, they won't need to design every piece inhouse and they won't need to ship every part because local or regional makers can
design and/or print the parts themselves. Big supply chains will be a thing of the
past.
Most companies aren't grasping this technology yet because it's going to change
the industry so dramatically. According to Basiliere, the key to long-term growth in
the manufacturing industry is the number of materials 3D printers can use, which is
small but growing quickly as well.
10. 3D printing is going to cause disruption in many industries
We know 3D printing will upheave mass manufacturers, but what else will the
technology affect?
Well, just about everything. Educators can print tools or designs in schools. Artists
will have a new medium to work with. Healthcare providers can quickly create what
they need in-house. Parents will be able to replace toys or broken household items
in a matter of hours.