TECHNOLOGY AT WORK

February 2015
Citi GPS: Global Perspectives & Solutions
55
“Additive manufacturing”, or 3D printing,
requires less cost, time and expertise than
traditional manufacturing techniques
3D printing is able to create complex
geometries and is likely to generate
employment in niche manufacturing
industries
There will be some employment replaced by
3D printing, however it is unlikely to be of
the same magnitude as other technologies
mentioned in this report
3D Printing
3D printing, also known as "additive manufacturing", has been around since the
1980s. Relative to traditional manufacturing techniques such as injection moulding
or CNC milling, 3D printing is slower, has poorer finish quality and is more
expensive per item. However, 3D printing requires less cost, time, and expertise to
create a small number of new items and it obviates the need for expensive retooling
to manufacture new products. It hence has traditionally found value in prototyping
new designs, and for some high-value, low-volume products. The recent
significance of additive manufacturing is found in its democratisation and
automation of manufacturing tasks. 3D printing is able to make direct use of designs
produced using CAD (computer-aided design) software to manufacture even
complex geometries, whereas other manufacturing techniques demand detailed
expertise to specify tooling paths. With an increasingly networked society,
appropriate designs are readily shared or purchased, allowing even non-experts to
begin 3D printing. Hence 3D printing provides a connection from the digital world to
a flexible means of physical manufacturing, reducing the need for manufacturing
workers. 3D printing technologies have recently been extended to produce items in
plastics, glass, paper, ceramics and even metal. Growing demand has led to
dramatic reductions in the size and cost of 3D printing devices, yet furthering their
broad adoption, with printers now available for as little as $500 and able to
comfortably fit on a workbench.
Clearly, 3D printing will play a role in the future of manufacturing. It is capable of
producing products unachievable by any other means, including those that
comprise mixtures of materials. For example, its ability to create complex
geometries is being used by General Electric to print components for its next
generation LEAP engine. As such, it is likely to generate employment in niche
manufacturing industries. It will enable nimble just-in-time manufacturing that is able
to respond quickly to new demand. These demands could be rapidly determined
using big data analysis enabled by the IoT and an increasingly networked society.
Crucially, 3D printing is well suited to personalisation: products will be increasingly
tailored to a customer's preferences, both explicitly stated and inferred from their
data.
This personalisation comes to the fore in medical and dental applications, allowing
components tailored to detailed body measurements. The industry is beginning to
adopt 3D printing for commercial purposes: in particular, 3D printing is core to the
manufacturing process of both Phona, manufacturer of hearing aids, and Align,
manufacturer of Invisalign dental braces. Personalisation is also the driver behind
the nascent industry that is starting to use 3D printing for clothing, such as
Electroloom, who print using composites of synthetic and organic materials. For
example, Continuum offers 3D printed bikinis, in nylon, bespoke to the body shape
and measurements submitted by a customer through their website.
The employment impact of these technologies, however, is unlikely to be of the
same magnitude as others mentioned in this report. In the United States, for
example, manufacturing has already been heavily automated, dropping from 30% of
employment in 1950 to less than 6% today. The jobs that remain often involve a
portfolio of skills, the management of many machines, for which one additional
machine is unlikely to be able to substitute. Nor does the broad distribution of
manufacturing devices, capable of personalisation, suggest a transformational
change in employment. Similar developments were realised with the introduction of
the home (2D) printer and sewing machine, which did not stop people from
purchasing newspapers and clothes, respectively, from traditional suppliers.
© 2015 Citigroup