3D printing is going to be huge.
Already, 3D printing is revolutionizing the manufacturing world. A design can be created on a computer, it can be sent to the printer and in hours–or days–a product or part is created. No more bits and pieces holding together a multitude of parts; now, products can be made simply and more efficiently than ever. In addition, additive manufacturing is helping to reinvent the way people look at manufacturing. It used to be that you took a bunch of raw materials and deconstructed them until they created the final product. 3D printing gives you the opposite; minimal materials are used to build up a finished product. Manufacturing is transitioning from a destructive practice to a constructive practice with the introduction of this technology.
3D printing has also found its way into people’s homes. Although the technology is still expensive, tinkerers and garage-inventors have found a whole new way of creating and inventing. Be it hobbier Jay Leno using a 3D printer to create parts for old cars, or a young fashionista using the technology to create her own unique shoes, 3D printing offers infinite possibilities for independent use. Everyday people can become manufacturers in their own right; a revolutionary concept. And as the use and understanding of additive manufacturing grows, so will its impact on society, the economy and the world.
Recently, an entire car was printed using a 3D printer—but it won’t stop there. As 3D printing gains impact, ideas start forming in the minds of inventors, engineers, and thinkers. Before the introduction of this technology, the idea to use different materials for cars being exposed to different weather types would be absurd. Now, however, this idea is actually being pitched and may one day be a reality. Ideas like this are the future of 3D printing, better yet, 3D printing IS the future, and many would say that future is very bright indeed.