Advantages and Disadvantages of 3D Printing

There are a number of massive factories around the world dedicated to producing
high volumes of the same product. It is a traditional method of producing
consumer goods. The objective of this essay is to discuss the benefits and
challenges of traditional manufacturing and 3D Printing. According to Ishengoma
and Mtaho in their 2014 article, 3D printing is a process of creating 3-dimensional
physical objects from a 3D computer models made in Computer Aided Designs.
This essay will refer to Grynols 2015 article and the European Parliaments 2015
article that discuss the benefits and drawback of traditional manufacturing
methods and how they are relevant to 3D printing. In the following paragraphs,
advantages and disadvantages of 3D printing will be compared and contrasted
with Traditional manufacturing.

In contrast to traditional 2D printing, 3D printing is the creation of a three-

dimensional object from a computer model using the process of melting and
laying down a material such as plastic or wax layer upon layer until completion of
the physical model is attained (Brans, 2013). This process should be
distinguished from traditional manufacturing by its additive process, as opposed
to an assembly line process used commonly in traditional manufacturing. In
addition, it can be further identified by its recent popularity in the aerospace and
medical industries. Rifkin (2011) hailed that this technology enabling for a third
Industrial Revolution.

3D printings basic procedure has a significant potential in the future of production

as a whole. In fact, it is considered by existing competitors as disruptive
manufacturing because of the effect 3D printing could outcompete traditional
manufacturing. Grynol (2016) provides in-depth analysis using a chart that
illustrates the cost of producing an object using traditional methods as well as
with 3D printing as the number of objects produced increases. While 3D printing
will create several objects with the same cost per item, traditional manufacturing
remarkably becomes more cost effective as the quantity of items produced
increases. In other words, it is more efficient to produce a thousand objects in a
factory than to create just one. Nevertheless, a 3D printer will create a thousand
objects at the cost of a thousand times that of producing just one. By contrast, 3D
printing is quite useful to cheaply produce a small number of objects, but to
produce a large number of products, a big factory using established techniques
will be more efficient because it is cheaper in the long run (Hartog, 2010).

Despite the new economic potential of 3D printing, there are several challenges
of developing and integrating 3D printing into the manufacturing industry. The
European Parliaments study (2013) identifies that industrial actors,
standardization, intellectual property rights, liability regulation and taxation are
some of legislative and regulatory challenges which need to be solved. The study
also highlighted the insufficiency of 3D printing software development and
education. Another research paper from Izabela Hager (2016) also added that
the possibility of losing jobs place for qualified workers because of the 3D printing
technology can make a social problem.

In conclusion, this paper has argued that 3D printing has not replaced traditional
manufacturing. As technologies change and evolve, 3D printing indicates to be
the future for manufacturing industries. There are a number of important
legislative and regulatory changes which need to be made to answer problem
and challenges for 3D printing implementation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grynol, B. 2016. Disruptive manufacturing - The effects of 3D printing. Quebec:
Deloitte Canada. Accessed 6 September 2017
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ca/Documents/insights-and-issues/ca-
en-insights-issues-disruptive-manufacturing.pdf.

Ishengoma, F. & Mtaho, A. 2014. 3D Printing: Developing Countries Perspectives.

International Journal of Computer Applications Vol. 104. No. 11, October 2014.
Accessed 6 September 2017
http://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/papers/1410/1410.5349.pdf.

Open Innovation In Industry, Including 3D Printing 2015. European Parliament's

Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE). 6 September 2017
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2015/563445/IPOL_STU%2820
15%29563445_EN.pdf.

Rifkin, J. 2014. The Third Industrial Revolution. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hartog, L. 2015. Custom Rapid Manufacturing on a global scale. Materialise World

Conference 2015.

Brans, K. 2014. 3D Printing, a Maturing Technology. IFAC Workshop on Intelligent

Manufacturing Systems. Sao Paulo: The International Federation of Automatic Control.

Hager, I. 2016. 3D printing of buildings and building components as the future of

sustainable construction? International Conference on Ecology and new Building
materials and products.