Kathy Bui, Engineering Vertical Lead at Formlabs on how 3D printing can speed up manufacturing and product innovation.
The road from idea inception to delivering a tangible creation is long but the innovation journey, from design, to prototype, to final product is speeding up with 3D printing. Instead of outsourcing prototyping and manufacturing, 3D printing is the in-house solution that enables faster innovation by shortening the iteration cycle time during development.
Injection moulding is a century-old process that has been the choice for producing auto parts, toys, small furniture, mechanical parts, and other plastic products due to reliability, repeatability, and low-cost-per-part for mass production. Instead of relying on metal moulds that take weeks to produce and can cost between a few thousand dollars to even 100,000 USD, product designers and manufacturers are turning to 3D printing as the new method for prototyping as the faster, lower-cost path to innovation. This more accessible technology, paired with innovation in resin materials, is enabling faster creation in manufacturing to medical industries.
3D printing: The accelerator
With an in-house 3D printer, functional validation runs or limited production runs are accessible and lower cost. In just a few hours to a few days, designers can print multiple iterations of their design to test, enabling them to reach the optimal design at a lower cost and more quickly than traditional methods, accelerating the innovation process. With the time and cost limitations all but removed, product designers can be more experimental and embark on a discovery process that could lead to more innovative solutions and designs.
Leading petrochemical company Braskem is an example of the benefits of transitioning from injection moulding to 3D printing. When the pandemic set in, the company sought to quickly produce the thousands of straps for masks to protect their global workforce. Outsourcing a metal mould would have cost precious time and money, so their design team used CAD software to design injection moulds for straps that could be 3D printed. With the 3D printed moulds costing around 400 USD, as opposed to approximately 10,000 USD with a month-long wait time, the team was quickly able to try different design types on-site to arrive at the final product within a week. With that mould tested and proven, Braskem was then able to produce thousands of straps to ship to offices around the world.
The ability to print moulds and prototypes in-house accelerates the route to a finished, functional product at a fraction of the time and cost. But now, large corporations are not the only ones to benefit from 3D printing. The 3D printing industry is now offering models priced to suit smaller businesses and startups, bringing the technology to a new set of customers. For example, SLS is one 3D printing method that has long been trusted by engineers and large manufacturers. These industrial printers are used for their ability to print strong, functional prototypes and end-use parts. But, even as 3D printing adoption is advancing, this technology has still remained out of reach for smaller businesses, with printers costing up to 1,000,000 USD. As new printers become available, this technology is starting to become available to more companies for a fraction of the cost, allowing more companies to take advantage of the benefits of SLS.
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With access to 3D printers that suit both a range of applications and prices, more creators can deliver their vision with fewer barriers to access. The benefits are two-fold: shortening their time to market and with the lower cost per prototype, and they can also print as many times as they’d like until they achieve - or exceed - their vision.
Hardware is only half of the equation
The availability of 3D printers gives designers in all industries the ability to create and innovate, but only if they have the right materials. The materials used to print prototypes are just as important to fostering innovation because different use cases require different material properties like strength, flexibility, durability, and more.
Some materials, like those used to 3D print injection moulds such as those used by Braskem need to be tough and durable, and able to withstand the high temperatures and immense pressure of the injection moulding process. Other designers might need materials that are designed for faster printing times with minimal wash and cure needed, which allows them to create multiple prototypes faster and to refine it before using a different material suited to the final product.
Material variety expands beyond the tough and durable, and injection mould and draft resins are vastly different from the materials needed for medical use. Biocompatible materials allow healthcare providers to 3D print personalised medical devices and surgical models in-house quickly, and at a lower price than sourcing models. The material innovation in 3D printing is also changing the design process for more delicate prototypes, like jewellery products. Jewellers traditionally use blue carving wax to create casting for their products, but they can now opt for 3D printing with a new resin. As opposed to the resins used for injection moulding which are designed to withstand high temperatures, a resin was developed to mimic the wax in capturing the minute and intricate details of a piece of jewellery. This material opened 3D printing to the jewellery industry, allowing jewellers to use 3D printing in their design process for greater efficiency, versatility, and design freedom.
With the right materials for a variety of applications, 3D printing and a growing repertoire of materials combined are enabling companies in many industries to approach and solve problems faster.
A faster, cheaper path to innovation
3D printing opens up entirely new possibilities for innovation and creation by speeding the path from an abstract idea to a tangible object. Whether for a manufacturer, a hospital, or a startup tinkering with their first product idea, 3D printing allows creators to try, and try again, with their designs until it meets their exact needs, without compromising on price, time, and other prototyping and production constraints. This technology is changing the process, giving more businesses - from large corporations to hospitals to small startups - the access and ability to print anything. When designers and creators can realise their vision faster, more game-changing innovations are just around the corner.
