How 3D Printing Could Completely Change Business, Health and More

Printing Ideas

3D printing is the next step in empowering consumers to create extremely
custom-tailored products, exactly how they envisioned. Falling costs of 3D
printing technology and the expiration of major patents, propelled 3D printing
as a viable option for creating products. The technology uses a mixture of hot plastic
that instantly cools to vertically print the product from a 3D design
file. 3D printing takes an idea in your
head and brings to reality in a matter of days.

Wonders of 3D Printing

3D printing has a wide variety of applications, most notably in the medical
arena. The technology has been used to successfully print and replace 75% of a
broken skull. Playing to technology’s strength,
the doctors designed the object to very specific requirements of the individual
head through 3D computer modeling. As a result the piece was able to fit in
perfectly.Personally, I am excited to see how far the medical field takes this 3D
printing technology. The possibility of printing organs and body parts will
easily open up a wave of funding towards the research.

Similarly
in another medical case, bio-engineers have been able to design and print an
ear!

Retail
Leveraging customization, 3D printing does wonders for creative people who now
have the ability to design and produce various kinds of jewelry. If the product
sells, you can always print more. If it fails, it failed fast and cheap. There
is no inventory space, and you can print on demand. We are already seeing
intricate printed jewelry popping out for sale on the internet. But 3D printing
isn’t just for small artists, New Balance and Nike are already entering the
space with a brilliant campaign where they design a perfect shoe. Based on the performance of an individual and
their running style, New Balance is able to build a shoe specific to the person.
Recently, NB’s perfect shoe was successfully used in a race by an athlete.

Grey Areas

3D printing is not without limitations. The overall process is a lot slower than
mass production, due to heavy emphasis on customization. Red flags start to go off, when in addition
to shoes and jewelry people start to print functional guns and gun clips.

Other problems that 3D printing will have to face deal with
copyright violations and patents. Who is the owner of the design? If somebody
prints and sells a figurine of Darth Vader should they pay any royalties?

Conclusion

3D printing plays exceptionally well with consumers on the internet who are
used to speed, customization and free information. As 3D printing technology
continues to improve, it will become cheaper and thus accessible to more
people. Some will use it for good and some will contribute to grey areas,
forcing the people in charge to think real hard about how to regulate the new
technology. For retailers, the 3D printing technology is a double edged sword:
On one hand it’s a threat since more people will be able to print smaller items
and not go to the store while on the other it’s an opportunity to offer a
customizable product, like New Balance did.

Dmitri Pivtorak, Amazed in 3D