The 3 Additive Manufacturing Challenges to Overcome

Additive manufacturing or AM is currently at the forefront of some dramatic global industrial changes, with great opportunities to take regular metal, plastic, ceramics, etc. and build any 3D objects you wish out of it. CNC manufacturing and 3D printing are in the spotlight for all progressive businesses out there, covering aerospace and car production, healthcare and energy niches, among many others. These advanced tech concepts keep on showing a formidable value for all kinds of productions.

The renowned 2019 Wohlers Report claims that by 2020, global investments into 3D printing will reach $15.8 billion. And the further growth is quite unlikely to slow down, seeing how active numerous companies are at figuring the technology out. Thus, we may expect this niche to grow further in value and hit around $50 billion in 2025.

In all fairness, 3D printing allows us to do some wonders - print practically any shape that can be thought out, optimize tons of business specifics in related work areas, create utterly custom solutions, etc. etc. etc. Still, not all entrepreneurs and businesses can integrate the technology at once that easily. All because many of them are in the process of figuring out where exactly they can direct such innovative capacities in their business realities.

Here are the 3 most relevant challenges that many entrepreneurs and small businesses still need to overcome in order to adequately adopt 3D printing.

Related costs

High-quality AM hardware may be priced at ridiculous $300,000 to $1.5 million, with the required basic materials costing $100 to $150 per piece. There is a great dependency on materials and printing objects from, for instance, plastic is pretty affordable. When it comes to metal and other sturdier stuff, though, prices are overwhelming and the respective business budget is called for. 

On top of that, there are also significant time expenses - a regular up-to-date 3D printer for metal is only able to generate 5-40 cm of stuff per hour. There should be some clear, significant reasons for any company to switch for additive manufacturing over the existing business processes. 

There should be a whole separate strategy involved - on-demand production and innovative businesses should start with a thorough supply chain analysis. In the long run, it may be much more optimal to order 3D printing services from outsourcing providers.

Not enough expertise

There are still not that many niche experts to properly implement 3D printing in the global market. However, this issue should resolve itself with time - we can already trace the appearance and evolution of generative design that bring older CAD approaches up to date. 

Right now, the best you can do is train your existing employees and look out for ambitious new talents. Moreover, there are educational initiatives related to the technology issued by such renowned universities as the Massachusets Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology, etc., as well as the US National Additive Manufacturing Institute and the European ADMIRE initiative. Working jointly with some of those may be a great idea.

Few Quality Assurance regulations

Additive manufacturing gradually changes industrial technologies as we know them and a certain share of confusion always comes along with new, innovative things. Simply put, there are still no settled standards in the niches of CNC production and 3D printing. That’s why even experts cannot, at times, create a 3D printed product that would be superior in terms of quality to a solution produced via standard technological means. 

Post-processing of such products as well as consistency requirements also frequently undermine the desired results. All in all, this novel niche of production calls for some established regulations and standards that will make it clear and easy for yet unfamiliar companies to print 3D stuff. 

And one can safely say that the industry is certainly going in that direction already - new related standards are actively handled by ANSI AMSC and America Makes. 

Previously published at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/3-additive-manufacturing-challenges-overcome-andrew-radomsky/