Bloomberg Businessweek
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Under giant windows overlooking the San Francisco Bay, a printer the size of a photocopier whirs at Autodesk. Beneath the glass lid, a mechanical arm with a nozzle moves back and forth. This isn’t your typical printout—the machine deposits ultrathin layers of melted plastic, rather than ink, and it’s forming an actual lamp with fluid curves. It’s a holiday gift for the chief technology officer.
Using materials such as metal, rubber, and plastic, 3D printers can create nearly anything that can be modeled in software, from custom shoes and hearing aids to complex airplane parts and even a car. These high-tech printers, which generated $1.4 billion in worldwide revenue for the industry last year, have typically been used to create prototypes of new products, but more businesses are using them to produce finished goods.
“3D printing is a way to reenvision the manufacturing process,” says Brian Mathews, vice-president of Autodesk, the largest maker of 3D design software.
Unlike conventional manufacturing, where products are often mass-produced overseas, 3D printing allows companies to print customized items when and where they’re needed, cutting the costs of materials and shipping goods like shoes from China to U.S. store shelves and then to outlets if they don’t sell. The technology, also called additive manufacturing, makes it possible to build products in remote places, such as outer space. NASA is looking at 3D printing as a possible means of creating replacement parts and tools on the International Space Station.
“You don’t have UPS or DHL up there; you have to wait for the next Russian space ship to bring something that you need,” says Gonzalo Martinez, director of strategic research at Autodesk. Last summer, Martinez helped a team 3D-print a wrench in zero gravity on a NASA parabolic flight that simulates weightless space conditions. “In 2014, NASA is committed to bringing a 3D printer to the space station,” he says.
The largest makers of 3D printers include 3D Systems, Stratasys, and Z Corp. The technology, which has existed for more than two decades, has become less expensive in the past five years. Prices for commercial 3D printers range from $15,000 to more than $300,000. Personal 3D printers that require assembly sell for as little as $500, whereas five years ago the lowest-priced printer was about $15,000, according to Terry Wohlers, a manufacturing consultant. The overall market is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2011 to nearly $3 billion by 2016 as demand in the aerospace and medical industries increases, according to a November 2011 report by market research firm IBISWorld.
3D printing has its limitations. While great for creating custom objects, it’s generally too slow for mass production. The size of the printer also restricts the size of the objects. As for the market, printer sales are closely tied to the research and development budgets of industries, such as consumer goods and manufacturing. During the recession in 2009, revenue from 3D printers dropped 9.8 percent, according to IBISWorld.
Currently the aerospace and automotive industries make up about 20 percent of the 3D printer industry’s revenue, according to the IBISWorld report. In the past, those industries mainly used the printers to make models of vehicles or aircraft. Today, companies such as Boeing are using 3D printers to generate actual parts.
“Boeing now has parts on flying military aircraft made by 3D printers without a single failure,” says Wohlers, president of Wohlers Associates, a consulting firm that focuses on rapid product development and additive manufacturing.
Boeing has conducted extensive research and development on additive manufacturing methods since 1997, according to Daryl Stephenson, a company spokesman. “Boeing has used additive manufacturing processes to produce more than 20,000 parts that are on military platforms that we have delivered to our customers,” he says.
