3D Printing

6 min readDec 20, 2017

3-D Printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is the process of building an object by adding material, incrementally, layer by layer. This is quite different from the typical machining process which may start with a material and remove or cut away material till an object is produced or manufactured.

The basic idea is to create or utilize a blueprint — a 3D CAD diagram — and feed that data slice by slice to a 3D printer (such as the one shown above) — which layer by layer deposits materials in a dimensional matrix and fuses to the previous layer of material below — slowly building up the structure of an actual object.

While the most common material is plastic — that is melted and deposited or deposited and fused by melting — there are a number of other materials that are being used for such printing.

3D printing is being used for prototyping and increasingly for producing finished good, parts, and products.

Background

3D printing is not actually “new” — its over 30 years old and has been used in prototyping particularly in the automotive and airline industry for years.

The original technology was primarily stereolithography (SLA). Stated very well from Wikipedia:

SLA is an additive manufacturing process that works by focusing an ultraviolet (UV) laser on to a vat of photopolymer resin. With the help of computer aided design(CAD) software, the laser draws a pre-programmed design or shape on to the surface of the photopolymer vat. Photopolymers are sensitive to ultraviolet light, so the resin is photochemically solidified and forms a single layer of the desired 3D object. This process is repeated for each layer of the design until the 3D object is complete.

That historical technology was expensive, not very efficient, and not very easy or accessible for mass innovation.

In the 90’s their was innovation in the “ink jet” type 3d printing and that ultimately let to the Fused Deposition Model (FDM) type you see today. Again from Wikipedia:

FDM begins with software that mathematically slices and orients the model for the build process. If required, support structures may be generated — e.g. so that you dont have large hollow tubes for example — support structures are built to make them strong. The object is produced by extruding small flattened strings of molten material to form layers as the material hardens immediately after extrusion from the nozzle. A plastic filament is unwound from a coil and supplies material to an extrusion nozzle. The nozzle is heated to melt the material.The nozzle is moved and controlled by software and the object is built from the bottom up, one layer at a time.

Some 3D Printing milestones/timeline courtesy of Sculpteo:

1980: First patent for Rapid prototyping
1984: First Stereolithography
1986: Stereolithography taken up by Charles Hull (credited founder)
1992: FDM patent to Stratasys
2000: a 3D printed working kidney is created
2008: The first 3D printed prosthetic leg
2010: Urbee is the first 3D printed prototype car presented
2011: Cornell University began to build 3D food printer.
2012: The first prosthetic jaw is printed and implanted
2013: “3D printing” in Obama’s State of the Union speech
2016: Daniel Kelly’s lab announces being able to 3D print bone

The main drivers for the growth and current excitement about 3D printing have been the introduction of new materials, software and ability to translate designs easily, affordability of desktop 3d printers. Today you can now get a cheap personal version for about $200!

Why is it Exciting?

Quite simply 3D printing is expected to lead a revolution in manufacturing both in terms of the manufacturing industries but also in terms of personal and consumer good — possibly resulting in a 3D printer in every home.

The most familiar application of 3D printing might be the wide range of personal items that you might see today such as toys and phone cases but can include such practical items as perfectly custom-fit sunglasses or designer shoes.

However there are a wide-range of applications and given that you can make very intricate objects (and sometimes things that cannot be made with any other manufacturing technique including by hand):

Prototyping for product designers
One-Off models — e.g. architectural building models and rendering
Supplement manufacturing process e.g. engine components
Download and print spare (including rare/obsolete) parts
Made to fit proshetics
Medical devices and implants — including custom fit
Layering cells to make organs e.g. printing human kidneys
3D Printed Foods e.g intricate chocolates
Manufacturing Houses — see video

Market Opportunity

The market is projected to be ~$30B market in the next 3–5 years.

The aerospace and defense industries were the largest 3D printers — primarily to manufacture critical parts for planes — but expected growth areas in: food, electronics, education, and energy.

In education we already see many schools and learning institutions utilizing 3D printers and the related CAD software and tools in courses.

There is also expectations that more corporations — engineering and marketing/creatives — will increasingly utilize 3D printers.

And while plastic and metals are the largest material markets — the expectation is that biomaterials in the healthcare sector will be a big area of emerging growth and application.

It will be interesting to see the shift from prototyping, hobbyist, one-off enterprise parts to more mass customized consumer products as well.

Market Landscape

Some of the key players, technologies, and organizations in the field include:

EcoSystem of 3D Printing Industry Players (~2015)

This diagram shows the areas in 3D Printing where venture money was being invested:

Where 3D Printing Venture Funds Have been Invested (~2015)

According to Crunchbase there are 1200+ companies involved in 3D Printing.

3D Printing Design Marketplaces such as Thingverse, Shapeways, Pinshape.

Some interesting companies include:

MakerBot — creates open source 3d Printers (Brooklyn NY)
Divergent 3D — revolutionizing auto industry through 3D Printing (Los Angeles Based, Raised $88M)
3D Systems — on-demand manufacturing services (prototyping, low volume manufacturing) — Rock Hill, SC, Public Company, Market Cap: $1.2B
Cellink — 3D bio-printing, bio-inks, human tissues. — Sweden Based, Public Company, IPO Story

What’s Ahead

The primary drivers of the going forward market will be related to advances in materials and new printing techniques and devices — that pertain to the type of goods that can be produced, accuracy, resolution, scale and structures of the material, and price.

Gartner’s “hype cycle” from a few years ago shows the expected 3D printing future: