How can 3D printing utilise tech for good to get ahead?

By Marga Hoek

3D printing isn’t new. This game-changing process of building an object from a digital file was first adopted in the late 80s by the aerospace and defence industry. However, since the patents expired on the first type of 3D printing 10 years ago, the market has been growing steadily – estimated to be worth US $9 billion in 2018.

In the 2020s, we’re going to see it take off. It has the potential to transform the manufacturing industry – benefiting both business and the planet. By 2025, the market is expected to surpass USD $63 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 29.48%.

Why?

Additive manufacturing has vast potential to change how we do business. As a technology that can be leveraged for good, 3D printing provides the opportunity for products to be produced anywhere in the world. Not only does this give businesses access to new markets and regions, it enables the globalization of business and the creation of new business models.

The vast array of materials that can be used to create products and the range of scaling unlocks the disruptive nature of the technology for a number of established sectors, including food, consumer products, pharmaceuticals, industrial, healthcare, infrastructure and transport.

From a business cost-savings perspective, 3D printing eliminates the need for warehouses to overstock inventory. It reduces demand for raw materials, allows for more efficient production and enables the development of new transformative products through rapid prototyping. It also reduces the need for global distribution and supply chains because of localized production.

3D printing can be considered a greener manufacturing model because it uses only the materials necessary to be consumed and nothing extra. By contrast, conventional subtractive production techniques waste resources. It also offers multiple solutions for recycling waste.

The frontrunners

Companies across the globe are using additive manufacturing to break new ground – helping to solve some of the biggest challenges the world is facing, while exploiting new sustainable business opportunities. Let’s take a look at some of the most innovative examples:

ReDeTec

Canadian company ReDeTec have created The ProtoCycler machine – an additive manufacturing solution that is also a recycling system. It has the ability to recycle the majority of commonly used plastics and other additive materials on the market, thereby eliminating waste.

Field Ready

As the world experiences a growing number of natural disasters due to climate change, the benefits of 3D printing for various disaster relief efforts have become more apparent. Tech-oriented NGO Field Ready have developed 3D-printed spare parts, such as water pipe fittings and washers, to help communities in disaster areas rebuild infrastructure more quickly.

SECORE

Coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems in the planet and are being seriously affected by climate change. Recent business efforts – by companies including Emerging Objects, Boston Ceramics and the SECORE organization – are helping to combat this environmental degradation by using 3D printing to reinvigorate coral growth and sustain the many aquatic species that live in the reefs. They are integrating artificial 3D-printed coral into reefs by creating internal geometries and textures, where real coral structures can be mimicked.

3D Systems

There are a number of important business opportunities for medical 3D printing. For instance, Align Technology, with its product Invisalign, provides an alternative to metal dental braces. Similar examples exist from Sonova for in-ear hearing aids and Mykita with eyeglasses. Large players such as Stratasys and 3D Systems are certifying an end-to-end process for producing medical parts with newly developed materials, using their own printing technology and offering printing services to customers such as hospitals.

Framlab

3D printed buildings are an exciting possible solution for low-income housing. Creative design agency Framlab have proposed the development of 3D printed pods to shelter New York’s homeless. The pod project, called Homed, consists of a pre-fabricated outer aluminium shell with 3D printed polycarbonate interior modules and is fitted with a customizable range of interiors.

Marga Hoek is a global thought-leader on sustainable business, international speaker and the author of The Trillion Dollar Shift, a new book revealing the business opportunities provided by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The Trillion Dollar Shift is published by Routledge, in hardback and e-book. For more information go to www.margahoek.com

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