The benefits and challenges of 3D printing
April 27, 2016
3D printing can bring many benefits to businesses, healthcare and the environment--and challenges come with it, too.
Potential benefits
Business benefits
- Faster product development cycles through prototyping
- Cheaper costs of systems, leading to niche business development
- Customer-centered design and feedback
- Short-run production solutions and market testing
Health & medical benefits
- New procedures to produce living tissue for organ replacement and bone material
- Improvement from current techniques, which may allow 100% of cells to live in reproduced organs, instead of the average 50 – 80%1
Environmental benefits
- Less waste material and fuel production
- Longer product life spans, leading to fewer unsold products to end up in landfills
Challenges: unprotected, untested, unregulated
Digital software challenges
- Unpatented digital software programs can be copied and sold by anyone
- Reverse-engineered objects can be sold at a cheaper price
- Increased opportunity for counterfeit products
Supply chain challenges
- Additional attention required when handling raw materials and quality control systems
- Potential for defective products and the challenge of determining who is liable for the defect
- Applicable laws still being developed regarding 3D-printed product liability
- Uncharted territory for users
Source:
1 Houston Methodist. (2014, February 10). ”New live-cell printing technology works like ancient Chinese woodblocking.” ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 21, 2015.