Is 3D Printing Just A Fad?

Christopher Mims has posted an interesting critique of the over-hyping of 3D Printing at MIT's Technology Review. Recently there have been a number of lower-cost 3D printers coming to market, with the purported promise of revolutionizing how we consume products. There are even 3D printers coming online that will be able to produce chocolate objects. 3D files for such printers are also becoming more widely available. The technology has been available for around 25 years, yet it is only now seemingly making an impact.


The enthusiasm is not entirely dominated by hobbyists and Singulatarians, 3D Systems recently aquired 3D printing machinery manufacturer ZCorp. As described in their press release, 

This acquisition integrates Z Corp and Vidar products and services with 3D Systems’ extensive portfolio, uniquely positioning 3D Systems for accelerated growth in the dynamic, rapidly expanding 3D content-to-print space.

According to Mims, "There is a species of magical thinking practiced by geeks whose experience is computers and electronics—realms of infinite possibility that are purposely constrained from the messiness of the physical world—that is typical of Singularitarianism, mid-90s missives about the promise of virtual reality, and now, 3-D printing."

Mims writes, "I'm seeing usually level-headed thinkers like Clive Thompson and Tim Maly declare that the end of shipping is here and we should all start boning up on Cory Doctorow's science fiction fantasies of a world in which any object can be rapidly synthesized with a little bit of energy and raw materials.

This isn't just premature, it's absurd. 3-D printing, like VR before it, is one of those technologies that suggest a trend of long and steep adoption driven by rapid advances on the systems we have now. And granted, some of what's going on at present is pretty cool—whether it's in rapid prototyping, solid-fuel rockets, bio-assembly or just giant plastic showpieces."

The notion that 3D printing will on any reasonable time scale become a "mature" technology that can reproduce all the goods on which we rely is to engage in a complete denial of the complexities of modern manufacturing, are not realistic says Mims, and, more to the point, it does not take into account the actual challenges of working with matter.

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Most 3D printers lay down thin layers of extruded plastic. That's great for creating cheap plastic toys with a limited spatial resolution. But printing your Mii or customizing an iPhone case isn't the same thing as firing ceramics in a kiln or smelting metal or mixing lime with sand at high temperatures to produce glass—unless you'd like everything that's currently made from those substances to be replaced with plastic, and there are countless environmental, health, and durability reasons you don't.

The desire for 3D printing to take over from traditional manufacturing needs to be recognized for what it is: an ideology. Getting all of our goods from a box in the corner of our home has attractive implications, from mass customization to "the end of consumerism." With stakes like those, who wouldn't want to be a true believer?


Hype is inevitably followed by some level of backlash, or at least disinterest, and it would be a shame for 3D printing to head into a too-deep trough of the Gartner hype cycle. There will be plenty of interesting applications for 3-D printing, but I'll bet the ones that will have the biggest impact will be within traditional factories, where rapid prototyping is already having a huge impact.

Mims ends on a correct note. Rapid prototyping generally has had an enormous impact on traditional manufacturing practices. Design engineers, industrial designers and marketing teams rely on the technology for design verification, fit testing, ergonomic testing, and so much more. As most products and widgets are produced in CAD applications by manufacturers and designers, physical validation is essential.

As a production and manufacturing arm of the base industry, rapid prototyping facilities are also subject to outsourcing and overseas location in cost-cutting efforts by organizations. This has also been compounded by consolidations in the plastics / rapid prototyping industries. Spectrum Plastics Group is one example of these trends. Using 3D printing directly for manufacturing is already employed for hearing aids. Most hearing aids available today are already made this way.

Mims has it partly right. Generally 3D printing is probably a fad (for now) for use by everyone, however in manufacturing itself it is already an established part of the process. It is worth noting thought, that as the technology develops it is sure to get faster, cheaper, and better. Coupled with the increased desire for custom-made and bespoke manufacturing 3D printing is only going to expand in the coming years.