LET'S SPEAK 3D PRINTING!
How Does This Additive Manufacturing Compare To The Traditional Methods Of Subtractive Production?
BACK TO 3D-PRINTING MANUFACTURING
Today, we stand at the opening moment of the next transformation: a third Industrial Revolution, in which mass manufacturing and global transfer of bulk goods will be set aside in favor of locally produced, highly personalized individual production, which fits nicely with society's transition to a truly global phase of incremental local innovation.
SAVINGS
Traditional mass manufacturing involves the following steps, which are comparatively inefficient:
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Making products by milling, machining, or molding raw materials
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Shipping these products all over the world
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Refining the materials into components
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Assembling the components into the final products in tremendous numbers to keep per-unit costs low
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Shipping those products from faraway locations with lower production costs (and more lenient workers' rights laws)
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Storing vast numbers of products in huge warehouses
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Shipping the products to big-box stores and other distributors so that can reach actual consumers
Because of the costs involved, traditional manufacturing favors products that appeal to as many people as possible, preferring one-size-fits-most over customization and personalization.
This system limits flexibility, because it's impossible to predict the actual consumption of products when next year's model is available in stores.
The manufacturing process is also incredibly time-consuming and wasteful of key resources such as oil, and the pollution resulting from the transportation of mass-manufactured goods is costly to the planet.
Machining/subtractive fabrication: Because additive manufacturing can produce completed products - even items with interlocking moving parts, such as bearings within wheels or linked chains - 3D printed items require much less finishing and processing than traditionally manufactured items do.
Molding/injection molding: 3D printers allow new molds to be created rapidly so that a manufacturer can quickly adapt to meet new design requirements, to keep up with changing fashions, or to achieve any other necessary change.
