The 3D Printing Tipping Point
“It is simply a different world when the time lapse between creating a design and having a tangible object of that design in hand is tiny,” writes TJ McCue in a piece on 3D printing for Harvard Business Review. “Thanks to more accessible technology, we are now reaching a critical mass of people who, when they think about how things are made, think in a different way.”
Throughout the article, McCue points to instances in which the relatively recent proliferation of 3D printing technology has not only changed what both companies and individuals are able to do outside of traditional manufacturing channels, but how we’re actually thinking, an important distinction that he says heralds the arrival of a cultural paradigm shift.
To put it into relatable terms, McCue highlights the app 3D Hub, which connects 3D designers with nearby owners of 3D printers (in maybe the most overused parlance of our time, you could say they’re the “Uber of 3D printers”). Taking into consideration only the 20,000 printers 3D Hub has registered to date allows them to estimate that nearly 1 billion people worldwide have a 3D printer within 10 miles of where they live.
In addition to major companies – HBR estimates that 30% of the “top 300 largest global brands are now using or evaluating 3D printing (often with printing technology in-house)” – it may be these individuals at home bringing the knowledge they’ve gained on their own time into the workplace that ultimately has a larger impact on the widespread use and application of the technology.
“This is how tipping points are reached,” McCue says. “Not when some key percentage of big companies has installed a technology, but when enough people see its possibilities.”
3D printing was a topic touched upon during various panels at this year’s FTF: Conference. Click here for video of model and athlete Aimee Mullins discussing 3D printing technology as it relates to sustainability efforts, and here for more information on Normal, the custom-fit 3D printed earphones, from founder Nikki Kaufman.
