The Next Industrial Revolution -- 3D Printing

Cheaper products usually means less quality. But what if there was a way to produce high quality, personalized products at one hundredth of the cost today? Shoppers, I introduce your best deal: the 3D printer.

A model made simply by mouse clicks. Image Credit: Engadget and Kickstarter

The majority of the products today are made in bulk by assembling lines at a factory hundreds of miles away. The 3D printing revolution challenges this model by bringing the assembling line into your home. This is the ultimate DIY tool.

The 3D printing process uses sequential additive manufacturing. In English, that means a computer interprets a design and prints one "layer" of the desired object. It then goes returns to its starting point and reprints on the initial layer, allowing the next layer to take shape. This process continues until you have thousands of layers stacked upon each other, creating your desired object. How can one machine change the world?

Shapeways shows how much 3D printer has grown in just one year. Image credit: Shapeways

Return of Manufacturing to the US -- Now that you can produce objects at home for such a low cost, there is no need for cheaper labor overseas.

Less Expensive Housing -- With larger 3D printers, you can design your own house and print it. Pipes and electric wires can be embedded into walls. How many people does it take to build? Two. How many days of construction? One.

Regrow Your Organs -- Organ transplants simply can not keep up with demand. With 3D printers, you can take a patient's stem cells and print them into a organ like a kidney. You can even integrate electronics in tissue, like this radio-receiving ear. Best part? No rejection occurs because it is made out of your own cells.

Cheaper Food -- Imagine removing the preparation costs from food. What if you didn't have to pay for kitchens or cooks? 3D printers can take beginning ingredients and produce the most eloquent meals in the right proportions that you want.

Fashion Show Stopper -- 3D printers can make the most intricate designs for a very cheap price. How will this affect the latest trends? Lets start with shoes.

Print More Printers -- As the abilities of 3D printers progress, they will be able to print the parts needed to make more of themselves. Imagine giving each country just one 3D printer. In no time, you would have millions of these printers making even more printers. They would print food, tools, and even clothing.

One final thought -- 3D printing calls into question the true value of an object. In the past, it was who crafted an object with elegant workmanship. But now, printers clearly outskill the human hand.

An object's value now lies in its design, and that has economic implications. If 3D printers can make products without aid, where will the money be? The answer: the designers, the brains who thought of the object in the first place.

© Nicholas Shah and Learning More Than Living, 2013. Please note that the material included this was not written by a licensed medical professional. Therefore, please consult your physician before trying anything suggested in this article. Please note that there was an image used from Engadget and Kickstarter. This blog does not claim ownership of that image. Furthermore, there was a second image from Shapeways. Note that this blog does not claim ownership of that image.  Nicholas Shah does not claim ownership to the ideas put forth here. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Nicholas Shah and Learning More Than Living with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Thank You.