The Exciting Present and Future of 3D Printing

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Everywhere you look nowadays it seems something is being 3D printed. From 3D printed meals to 3D printed human organs to 3D printed homes, it seems there is nothing that additive manufacturing can't achieve.

For the uninitiated, additive manufacturing or 3D printing is the process of making solid, three-dimensional objects from a digital file. The practice centers around layering materials, like plastics, composites or bio-materials to create a variety of objects.

3D printing is extremely flexible being able to create everything from human tissue to race cars. Although 3D printing has seen an explosion of uses in the last few years, the practice is in fact quite old.

The earliest 3D printing technologies first appeared in the early 1980s however at the time they were very expensive, difficult to use, and required specialized training, We have come a long way from those days and today anyone can pretty much 3D print anything.

In fact, additive manufacturing is showing up in the supply chain of countless companies. This is because the practice allows firms to rapidly manufacture crucial products and components and enables the cost-effective production of complex shapes using less material than traditional manufacturing methods. 

Watch our video to find out more about the many exciting possibilities of 3D printing and discover whether the practice is just a trend or is here to stay.