Don’t let a few cool 3D printing use cases make it Industry 4.0’s poison chalice

3D printing lies at the bottom of service providers’ Industry 4.0 technology offerings; there are many challenges left unsolved if it’s going to surpass cool use case videos to be the production process of the future. Providers are showing signs of solving these challenges alongside their manufacturing partners, but manufacturing execs shouldn’t go in with guns blazing before guaranteeing rapid innovation in the short-term and concrete value in the long-term. Equally, they can’t be complacent and fail to have the capability and partner network ready–to–go when the technology booms—or they’ll be playing catchup, making expensive purchases, and signing one-sided contracts with vendors.  

HFS’ Industry 4.0 Services Top 10 for 2019 asked leading providers to rate the maturity of their offerings across Industry 4.0’s core enabling technologies (see Exhibit 1). Unsurprisingly, predictive analytics and AI applications, big data, and IoT are the most mature segments. IoT provides real-time data flow, on top of which data analysis can derive insight and with that, value. While aspects of robotics and small–batch manufacturing are still emerging, they’ve been around for decades and are moving along the maturity scale; we cannot say the same of 3D printing. 

Exhibit 1: 3D printing and drone technology are at the bottom of the maturity list for providers of Industry 4.0 services.  

Source: HFS Industry 4.0 Services Top 10 2019 

The volume-logistics-cost trade-off limits 3D printing’s adoption for mass manufacturing 

Manufacturing, R&D, and commercial applications of 3D printing might scream promise through interesting use cases and videos that capture the attention of various media. There are many reasons why it lingers on the priority list for service providers and the Industry 4.0 sphere hasn’t widely adopted it. To date, 3D printing is used for low volume manufacturing and niche, complex use-cases, thus many service providers remain at the developing point for their 3D printing solutions.  

While 3D printing can produce one or a few parts cheaply with a low set–up cost and short lead-time, traditional injection molding and metal processing methods quickly become more cost–effective as efficiencies of scale come into play. Think of 3D printing as having economy of scope rather than economy of scale. Each case will have a trade–off in terms of capital and ROI; some 3D printers cost as little as $100 for consumers and hobbyists; professional machines reach $1,000 and beyond, while industrial-scale and high-complexity machines reach tens if not hundreds of thousands. 

A similar trade-off exists with sustainability. “Additive” 3D printing can reduce waste versus traditional “subtractive” methods, but this must be balanced against the energy consumption of mass-printing. A future of renewable electricity will boost the environmental viability of 3D printing—analogous to electric transport. 

Advantageous situations for 3D printing might include limited edition manufacturing, complex manufacturing (medical devices, for instance), spare part production with limited need to hold inventory (although there is still a need for raw material inventory), or geometries unfeasible to make via casting processes like hollow cavities or parts within parts. 

Rapid prototyping is another much-hailed advantage, although, like with agile project management, many end-users must question its appropriateness. 3D printers must be kept extremely well-tuned to ensure consistency of quality—a significant maintenance expense when “layer lines,” for example, are unacceptable. Mass manufacturing can better-cope economically with a few defects per 1,000 parts. 

There are also natural limitations: Process industries—for example, an oil refinery—might find adoption impossible for any form of finalized product, but it may find use for producing replacement parts and tools. 

3D printing brings a high level of scrutiny on the underlying software’s cybersecurity 

HFS recently called manufacturers’ attention to the catastrophic financial and safety risks of corrupt input files and how blockchain might provide the innovative but necessary piece of mind.  3D printing’s consistent market growth over the past seven years—currently at $14.5 million, expected to reach $21 million in 2021—means a bigger target for malicious parties looking to sabotage product specs and generate scrappage, recall, and a massive financial and safety headache for manufacturers. 

Several providers are pushing the industry forward with mature 3D printing IP, innovation programs, and engineering know-how 

For manufacturers who think their time is now with 3D printing or those who’re looking to build up their base, a spattering of leading providers are jostling for business: 

• Accenture has over 20 3D printing-related patents and applications as part of its Industry X.0 thought base.
• EY has a robust partnership ecosystem building up 3D printing maturity—summarized by its wavespace innovation centers and Smart Factory framework. 
• Infosys holds eight 3D–printing patents and has wide-ranging expertise and offerings, including metallic structure design in turbo-machinery, aerospace, and heavy engineering segments. Infosys’ engineers internally built a 3D printer (“Vismay”) from electrical and electronic waste as a more affordable alternative to expensive market options. 
• LTTS has a solid engineering knowledge base that includes 3D printing. 
• HCL and TCS also self-rated their 3D printing capabilities as mature. 

Our Top 10 covers a wider range of vendors with mature and developing 3D printing capability. 

The Bottom Line: 3D printing, for now, will be confined to the small scale and the complex—but manufacturers can’t be complacent: they must scrutinize the market to find the right providers and partners. 

Speed, flexibility, and cost improvements will, in the future, for many cases, propel 3D printing above its injection molding or metal processing competitors. But in truth, there remains a distance before mass manufacturing fully embraces the potential of 3D printing. 

Understandably, our service provider community is yet to go all-in on 3D printing, but manufacturers can’t be complacent. Several of the big players are making big waves in the space, and 3D printing’s a technology likely to boom once it’s been cracked; some manufacturers will be left behind and forced to sign expensive deals to catch up. They must find a partner with real capabilities in this nascent but bubbling market—or be left with the vendors still stuck peddling over-hyped use cases and marketing drivel.