There is probably no better example to show how digital data can be turned into a tangible product at the push of a button. In this process, the principle of manufacturing goods is practically reversed: Up to now, objects have been formed primarily by removing material, for example by having a piece of metal or wood milled, sanded, turned, or planed by machines or people (so-called machining or subtractive processing). In contrast, products are created in the so-called additive processes by applying the material in layers. For this reason, in the industrial environment, the term additive manufacturing is usually used and formally referred to in ISO, for example. Nevertheless, the term 3D printing has become very popular and is now used as the de facto standard for these manufacturing processes by the general public and the leading media.

Key benefits of 3D printing

• Individualization of products in minimal quantities
• Greater design freedom
• Rapid Prototyping: Fast creation of high-quality prototypes (without additional tools)
• Environmental friendliness (less material consumption compared to traditional subtractive technologies, minimizing CO2 output, since transport is not necessary/is reduced in case of on-site production)
• Use of different material types in one 3D print
• Production of several identical objects in a single 3D print job
• Precision, speed, quality and price: depending on the product and printing process, 3D printing offers significant advantages over traditional methods. Here, further improvements in parameters, especially in the variety of materials, are expected in the coming years

3D Printing in Architecture & Construction

In architecture, models, e.g. of buildings, are often still made by hand with a lot of time spent on them. But since many models are now available as computer models, there is the potential to print them out in 3D in a shorter time. So far, this is not always economical, especially when it comes to simple models. The advantages of 3D printing are that models are easier to reproduce and can be scaled freely. They also offer greater detail. In addition to architectural models, 3D printing is also used directly for building houses and bridges (3d printing concrete or steel).

• Architecture models
• Single-level houses
• Bridges
• In the future: multi-level houses

3D Printing in the Food Industry

In the food industry, the signs are pointing to the customization of food items and dishes. Medically necessary diets and nutritional plans, especially in an aging population, require a controlled nutrient intake, which food 3D printing could help to support in the future. Currently, food 3D printing is still in its early stages and is being used more widely in show cooking or in the context of the confectionery trade, where there is greater design freedom (e.g., 3D printed edible logos).

• Candy like gummy animals, chocolate, cake/cakes, cookies, waffles, other sugar constructions
• Noodles
• Burger Patties
• In the future: complete dishes produced by a 3D printer

3D Printing in The Aerospace Industry

One-third of an aircraft’s operating costs are related to its kerosene consumption. Therefore, lightweight construction, as made possible by additive manufacturing, is a decisive factor in aircraft construction. Aircraft must be light and stable. The engineering challenge in the aviation industry is to optimize the factors of weight and performance (stiffness, stability, fatigue strength) while keeping costs in mind. If the weight of the components is reduced, the aircraft operator can save fuel and increase the payload.

• Ergonomically optimized components (e.g. armrests)
• Hydraulic components
• Robots for unmanned space missions
• Drones
• In the future: High-speed turbine blades

3D Printing in Engineering & Manufacturing

In many industries, the production of special tools and components is a costly step in the manufacturing process. The use of conventional methods is usually expensive, time-consuming, and technically demanding. 3D printing can be used to produce products and small batches faster. In addition, tools can have properties that are only possible with 3D printing (see examples below). There are many other uses in manufacturing, such as providing spare parts for machines or tools, enhancing (e.g., lighter, more precise, integrated cooling) your own product lines, or making products without tools that previously required molds.

• Spare and special parts production on-demand (e.g. for classic cars)
• 3D Printing of electrical parts (e.g. 3D scanner)
• Injection molding tools with conformal cooling
• Circuits (already now partly prototypically possible, but quality improvements to be expected)

3D Printing in Medicine & Research

The central challenge of medicine is that each individual is unique. 3D printing offers a high degree of design freedom so that medical devices and aids can be produced directly individually and personalized. This applies not only to the actual prosthetic products (e.g. the artificial knee joint), but increasingly also to printed surface structures that ensure that an artificial knee joint, for example, grows and heals better. In the future, there will be more extensive areas of application, such as the manufacture of organs or organ parts. For example, the liver or heart or heart valves could be reproduced from DNA stem cells or body parts in the context of plastic-reconstructive surgery (e.g. reconstruction of an auricle). In addition, individualized anatomical models of the surgical site (e.g. complete vascular structures of the heart) can be produced for complex surgical procedures, allowing the surgical team to prepare themselves realistically and thus significantly reducing the surgical risk for the patient. In its latest report for 2018, the market research and analysis company Gartner even predicts that by 2021, 25% of all surgeons will practice on 3D-printed models of the patient before the actual intervention.

• Prostheses & Orthoses
• Drugs
• Models for the preparation of surgical procedures
• 3D-printed surfaces
• Implants (artificial knee joints, cruciate ligaments, jaw implants, parts of the pelvic bone)
• Future goal: to produce functioning organs

3D Printing for Consumer Products, Fashion & Design

Consumer goods are usually produced in very large quantities under great cost pressure and in collections that alternate at short intervals. Products such as sporting goods are therefore mostly manufactured by injection molding, which enables the economic production of many millions of parts in a short time. However, individualized products manufactured in batch size 1 can hardly be realized with tool-bound manufacturing processes. In the meantime, however, major sports goods manufacturers, for example, are working on producing end parts using additive manufacturing. Especially in the field of sports shoes, there are already first concepts in which all forms of individualization are used. Performance individualization in sprint shoes, for example, enables the optimized placement of spikes and ergonomic individualization adapts a shoe sole to the wearer’s footprint. In addition, significant weight and material savings can be achieved by replacing the solid soles with grid networks.

• Clothing (e.g. shoes, dresses, accessories such as necklaces, rings, earrings)
• Toys
• 3D-Selfies
• Household items (vases, lamps)
• Bicycle frames