industry 4.0 Issue no 7 - DECEMBER 2018
the Potential of 3D Printing
If at First You Don’t Succeed… While there are a multitude of opportunities for SMEs to benefit from 3D printing, SMEs shouldn’t underestimate the initial lead time of a project. “There will probably be lots of iteration,” agrees Askew. “They’ll probably fail on the first part. But continue and you will succeed. And once you get going, you’ll find you are printing all kinds of things. In the last week, our team have printed – just for our own use, because they can – a wrench to open a barrel and a TV rack for a display.” The main barriers to entry are cost, a lack of CAD skills, and education about 3D printing. However, Askew makes the point that the cost of the machines are usually dwarfed by the cost savings they can deliver.
He cites the example of a hand-held tools manufacturer who has gained a parts saving of £26k a year by printing a single 3D-printed part. The savings the company has realised have started it on a journey to explore other ways to use 3D print. “Sometimes it’s not always feasible to 3D print something because of the material,” says Askew, “But usually we can work with the customer to find an alternative material. That’s about asking the right questions: why are they using it? What properties are important? Does it need heat resistance or resistance to particular chemicals or a particular strength?”
How to Get Started Daniel Abram at 3DGBIRE makes the point that one of the biggest barriers for SMEs considering 3D print is the sheer variety of machines available. “The success of the technology is also one of its main barriers – customers are overfaced with which machine to buy,” he says. “My main advice for SMEs is to do the research on the machine,” continues Abram. “There are a lot of machines and you need to pick the right one for your particular needs. You need to focus on a single business case and focus on that alone when you make the purchase. It’s easy to get excited and start printing things for which there isn’t a business case.
“Understand that you won’t have all the answers about what the machine will be used for in the long term… You need to focus on the single business case initially. Later, you can be open minded about what the machine can do for your company.” Daniel Abram, General Manager, 3DGBIRE. 24
Understand that you won’t have all the answers about what the machine will be used for in the long term. You will find other opportunities – typically, customers start with just one requirement but end up finding 25 more. You need to focus on the single business case initially. Later, you can be open minded about what the machine can do for your company.”