Slowly but surely, 3D printing is finding its way within the manufacturing industry as a technique for series production. Of course, we are not talking about the same production numbers as, say, injection moulding, but that is not the intention. Injection moulding has its characteristics and advantages compared to 3D printing and vice versa. However, it is still quite a challenge for many organisations to determine when 3D printing is a good alternative to conventional production techniques.
One of the most obvious reasons to consider 3D printing is when one wants to bring a smaller series to market where the start-up and tooling costs cannot be recovered with conventional production techniques. After all, these costs are minimal with 3D printing.
Another reason is when one wants to implement a high degree of customisation to meet a specfic market need or to serve a niche market. With 3D printing, one can implement the degree of customisation even down to the level of a single product. Consider, for example, spectacle frames that are already being printed on the basis of individual, and therefore unique, facial features. Here, the great advantage is that the spectacle frame offers optimal wearing comfort and the lens is positioned in the best position relative to the eyes.
A third important consideration is that 3D printing allows organisations to respond better and faster to changing market needs because, after all, design adjustments can be made at virtually any time.
Finally, a short delivery time is also a good reason to opt for 3D printing. With injection moulding, for example, one speaks in terms of weeks or months while with 3D printing one speaks of days or a few weeks.
The follow-up question that is quickly asked in this context is where the tipping point lies between which 3D printing and, in this case, injection moulding are chosen, i.e. what the final production price is for a printed product. In other words, at what numbers is the production price of a printed product equal or lower than conventional technology?
The final cost price of a printed product is strongly determined by the following three factors, which also influence each other:
Technique
Within 3D printing, different techniques are available that affect price. For example, a product produced via FDM printers (the well-known filament printers also used in the home market) is many times more expensive than the same product produced by Laser Sintering (powder-based 3D printing). This is partly due to the fact that in the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technique, build time is a major cost component, and in Laser Sintering, the build volume of a product again weighs more heavily.
Material
The wishes and expectations you have are decisive for the material and the choice of material in turn determines the printing technique to be chosen; after all, one cannot use the raw materials for Laser Sintering (nylon powder) for an FDM printer (filament). In addition, the material also influences the degree of post-processing required to achieve certain mechanical properties.
Design
3D printing has a high degree of design freedom, allowing one to design more from functionality instead of a conventional production technique being the starting point. It is possible to produce unique products with a more complex design that consist of fewer parts, are lighter in weight and are at least as strong (especially with metal printing). Through design, therefore, there are opportunities to produce products that have both better properties and a lower cost.
Bottom-line is that 3D printing has a lot of potential in the field of serial production but is not a solution for every application. One will have to research to find the right applications and thus exclude things in the process. But practice shows that good research pays off.
