3D printing isn’t glamorous like electric cars or trendy like eating vegan, and yet, it’ll impact the world a whole lot more than either of those combined. Way more. I read this article on CNBC Evolve which echo’d many of my thoughts.
Management consulting firm A.T. Kearney describes 3-D printing as a technology that is disrupting the $12 trillion manufacturing industry. “3-D printing, or additive manufacturing — will push the production of goods closer to the consumer, democratizing manufacturing on a global scale and allowing products to be cost-effectively customized to consumers’ needs,” said the firm in a report that described the U.S. as the world leader but with Germany, South Korea and Italy among the countries working hard to catch up. –Joel Dreyfuss, CNBC Evolve 11/9/19
As I’ve written about before, neither electric vehicles nor automated driving alters the master equation:
(Distance x (Capital + Labor = Cost)) / Pounds = Delivery Cost Per Pound
The problem with both EVs and automated driving is that they will favorably impact one part of the equation but it’s offset in another area. Trying to reduce your overall delivery cost per pound is kind of like playing whack-a-mole. For instance, automated driving will save you money on a driver, but it’s offset by a higher cost of capital which yields higher depreciation charges. And anything you see stating that electric vehicles are cheaper to own is spouting propaganda; they are typically more expensive to own over the full live of the vehicle. That’s why EV agnostic corporations typically buy gas forklift trucks over electric.
3D printing, however, truly moves the needle on the master equation. It does so by radically reducing the total miles travelled by raw material components. There is no increase elsewhere, so it’s a net reduction in total logistics cost. Prior to 3D printing, technological advancements and specialization were INCREASING the number of miles travelled. This is a never-before-seen phenomenon.
Whether a truck is self-driving or electric becomes totally irrelevant if the consumer can bypass a supplier and produce their own components. What’s better than reducing the cost of transportation? How about not needing to travel in the first place.
But 3D Printing is more a niche that makes custom products possible. Large corporations that need millions of the same part would never use 3D printing. They’d use plastic injection molding, which is faster and cheaper at scale. But plastic injection molding is a costly affair. So this leads large corporations to avoid or discontinue low-volume product lines.
Everyone who predicts the demise of the human worker due to the mechanization of the modern factory completely overlooks one big thing. That is, mechanization results in the reduction of product lines. This means that as factories get more and more automated, there is less and less variation in the products. It’s the natural and predictable financial impact of using robots. But this leaves a huge opportunity for small business that aren’t automated to fill that gap.
The magic of 3D printing will greatly benefit the small to medium business arena where the focus is more on the niche products that large corporations can’t afford to make. 3D printing will allow small mom-and-pop proprietorships to grow into medium-sized businesses, and it’ll help medium-sized business compete more effectively against large businesses.
Currently, if a small business needs low-volume parts, they have to pay a corporation a huge amount of money to set up special runs for them. These parts cost a hefty amount because the cost of the machinery, labor, and trucking is spread over a low unit volume.
But if some guy working in his garage can start to produce his own components at a relatively cheap price, everything changes. He can buy the same resin that the Acme Corporation buys. And it’s much cheaper for him to print a few parts in his printer than for Acme to fire up their multi-million-dollar injection molder.
Additionally, unlike a plastic injection mold machine, 3D printers are not limited to a specific mold. 3D machines are comparatively cheap and very flexible. You can make a wide variety of components on the fly. No longer will small business be dependent on some out-of-state manufacturer to set up a special run of parts and ship those over the road. We’re on the cusp of some very real change as the cost of 3D printers comes down and the technology improves.
It’s true that technology is going to force many job cuts at large corporations where they specialize in a few product lines. But there will be an equal amount of opportunity for small business and independent craftsmen who want to pick up the discarded low-volume niche products. And technology will help these smaller, more labor-intensive manufacturers to thrive.
This change is coming soon. Even today, companies that I’ve worked for are already 3D printing low-volume spare parts necessary to repair machines in a manufacturing plant. 3D printing is already that advanced.
Those who really want to invest in the future that technology brings should be seriously looking at 3D printing. This is a new technology that is radically changing cost structures, and, for the first time ever, reducing the total number of miles that components need to travel.
Electric vehicles and automated driving is simply a relatively small iteration of the age-old technology which started with the horse-drawn wagon.
As I’ve written about before, neither electric vehicles nor automated driving alters the master equation:
(Distance x (Capital + Labor = Cost)) / Pounds = Delivery Cost Per Pound
The problem with both EVs and automated driving is that they will favorably impact one part of the equation but it’s offset in another area. Trying to reduce your overall delivery cost per pound is kind of like playing whack-a-mole. For instance, automated driving will save you money on a driver, but it’s offset by a higher cost of capital which yields higher depreciation charges. And anything you see stating that electric vehicles are cheaper to own is spouting propaganda; they are typically more expensive to own over the full live of the vehicle. That’s why EV agnostic corporations typically buy gas forklift trucks over electric.
3D printing, however, truly moves the needle on the master equation. It does so by radically reducing the total miles travelled by raw material components. There is no increase elsewhere, so it’s a net reduction in total logistics cost. Prior to 3D printing, technological advancements and specialization were INCREASING the number of miles travelled. This is a never-before-seen phenomenon.
Whether a truck is self-driving or electric becomes totally irrelevant if the consumer can bypass a supplier and produce their own components. What’s better than reducing the cost of transportation? How about not needing to travel in the first place.
But 3D Printing is more a niche that makes custom products possible. Large corporations that need millions of the same part would never use 3D printing. They’d use plastic injection molding, which is faster and cheaper at scale. But plastic injection molding is a costly affair. So this leads large corporations to avoid or discontinue low-volume product lines.
Everyone who predicts the demise of the human worker due to the mechanization of the modern factory completely overlooks one big thing. That is, mechanization results in the reduction of product lines. This means that as factories get more and more automated, there is less and less variation in the products. It’s the natural and predictable financial impact of using robots. But this leaves a huge opportunity for small business that aren’t automated to fill that gap.
The magic of 3D printing will greatly benefit the small to medium business arena where the focus is more on the niche products that large corporations can’t afford to make. 3D printing will allow small mom-and-pop proprietorships to grow into medium-sized businesses, and it’ll help medium-sized business compete more effectively against large businesses.
Currently, if a small business needs low-volume parts, they have to pay a corporation a huge amount of money to set up special runs for them. These parts cost a hefty amount because the cost of the machinery, labor, and trucking is spread over a low unit volume.
But if some guy working in his garage can start to produce his own components at a relatively cheap price, everything changes. He can buy the same resin that the Acme Corporation buys. And it’s much cheaper for him to print a few parts in his printer than for Acme to fire up their multi-million-dollar injection molder.
Additionally, unlike a plastic injection mold machine, 3D printers are not limited to a specific mold. 3D machines are comparatively cheap and very flexible. You can make a wide variety of components on the fly. No longer will small business be dependent on some out-of-state manufacturer to set up a special run of parts and ship those over the road. We’re on the cusp of some very real change as the cost of 3D printers comes down and the technology improves.
It’s true that technology is going to force many job cuts at large corporations where they specialize in a few product lines. But there will be an equal amount of opportunity for small business and independent craftsmen who want to pick up the discarded low-volume niche products. And technology will help these smaller, more labor-intensive manufacturers to thrive.
This change is coming soon. Even today, companies that I’ve worked for are already 3D printing low-volume spare parts necessary to repair machines in a manufacturing plant. 3D printing is already that advanced.
Those who really want to invest in the future that technology brings should be seriously looking at 3D printing. This is a new technology that is radically changing cost structures, and, for the first time ever, reducing the total number of miles that components need to travel.
Electric vehicles and automated driving is simply a relatively small iteration of the age-old technology which started with the horse-drawn wagon.
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