Manufacturing by additive means has rapidly become mainstream in many different industries. Many companies are attracted to the cost-effectiveness and ease of flexibility offered by the region. Engineers are now pushing the boundaries with 3D printing as it has become easier to access within the last couple of years.
Traditional design techniques are out of date due to the ever-increasing trend towards personalization and aesthetics. 3D printing is vital to ensure design teams can work efficiently and deliver products in a short time frame. 3D printing transforms industrial design practices in the following ways:
Safety of products
Manufacturing companies have emphasized safety as a priority to provide their customers with top-quality products. Designers can make a list of potential and severe issues without even manufacturing them using CAD software. Having developed a safety design with improvised features, engineers can 3D print prototypes of the new design to test functionality.
A company can gain an advantage by testing designs more accurately with an in-house 3D printer. Additionally, engineers use 3d printing to ensure the safety of their products better than conventional methods.
Integrated design communication
Remote corporate cultures have a high COVID prevalence, which can delay product development, particularly in teams with more members. In contrast, designers can now collaborate in real-time without sacrificing productivity by using online 3D print services and CAD tools.
Remote collaboration in traditional processes is minimal, and most work is done by hand. The ability to track online progress and implement design improvisations faster is possible with seamless design collaboration.
Reliability of design
A difference between the physical product and digital design can be observed in traditional manufacturing practices. In most cases, manufacturers are unable to cope with the intricate geometry of the designs. As a result, though we may have applied the finishing after production begins, we sometimes have trouble mimicking an exact copy.
Alternatively, in a 3-dimensional printer, the design process introduces greater accuracy and flexibility to overcome this challenge. Several materials can be used to print an accurate 3D model. The benefit is that any flaw in the design can be identified early in the preproduction phase.
Improved improvisational speed
Manufacturing products using 3D printing is an efficient and practical way to develop products. Unlike other processes, geometrical flaws can be identified more quickly and corrected within a short turnaround time. The designers will no longer have to perform manual tasks, and this will save considerable time.
By increasing durability, strength, or other factors, designers could improve the models more quickly. In addition, with rapid prototyping, engineers can perform real-life testing on physical models to make the complete process more agile.
Customization
Customer demand for product personalization has been growing steadily in recent times. Manufacturers can therefore test and launch new products with many types of 3d printing materials. Furthermore, they can prepare bespoke materials to enhance the overall performance of the final product. Additive manufacturing can handle your design needs, regardless of whether you’d like it to be plastic, ceramic, or metallic.
Design optimized for digital platforms
AM systems are designed explicitly for end-use on AM equipment during the design stage. To capitalize on the capabilities of AM, DOD can develop a wide range of new products and features. In addition, DOD allows for changes to existing product development and design processes in quicker and cheaper ways, such as enabling easy and inexpensive redesigning of products and using nontraditional sources of information, such as 3D scanning. Some analysts are already publicizing the potential competitive benefits of DOD adoption. In manufacturing operations according to Gartner, “Design reuse, faster product launches and introductions, better aftermarket services, and improved product quality all suggest they will have high competitive value.”
Future of industrial design using 3D printing
The 3d printing market will boost up to USD 34.8 billion by 2026 due to the high demand for these services. Additive manufacturing will be essential to offering high-quality products, whether automotive, aerospace or consumer goods. In the upcoming years, we will witness significant developments in additive manufacturing—growing demand for 3D printing And its implementation in design R&D.
Conclusion
We’ve seen in this blog how 3D printing is moving beyond the boundaries of rapid prototyping throughout this guide. Creating fully virtual inventories and serial production will soon become reality. The advancement of 3D printing is blazing a trail to even greater opportunities as of 2021, pointing to an even brighter future. Despite the technology’s great potential, it is only just now being fully realized. As more industries move to smarter, digital manufacturing, industrial 3D printers will only gain relevance. Another thing that is certain: designers will never go anywhere, regardless of how the design world changes.
