Nov 29, 2016 | By Tess

DHL, part of Deutsche Post, has just released its newest DHL Trend Report, entitled “3D Printing and the Future of Supply Chains.” The report, while offering an in-depth look at how 3D printing technologies will play a part in manufacturing and supply chain processes, is also a bit of a call down to earth for those toting the revolutionary potentials of additive manufacturing technology. That is, while 3D printing technologies and applications are undeniably growing and advancing, DHL suggests that additive manufacturing will not fully replace existing manufacturing methods (especially for mass production) but will be used more as a complementary process.

DHL, which has been working with 3D printing for years and has initiated pop-up 3D printing shops, has stated in its latest report that despite a projected growth to $180 billion to $490 billion by 2025, the 3D printing market will remain a complementary manufacturing process, used primarily for producing customized and small-batch complex parts rather than being adopted for mass manufacturing.

As Matthias Heutger, Senior VP of DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation, explains: “The DHL Trend Report…recognizes 3D printing as a transformative technology. However, it is not a magic bullet that will render factory mass production and manufacturing obsolete. Its exciting potential lies more in its capability to simplify the production of highly complex and customizable products and spare parts - and this could bring logistics and manufacturing closer together than ever before."

As we’ve seen, 3D printing has already been adopted by many industries, including aerospace and aviation, automotive, healthcare, textiles, and more. The benefits of additive manufacturing for said industries are significant, as it offers a cost-efficient, time-saving, and materially economical way of producing high quality parts with complex structure. The technology has also proven exceptionally useful for prototyping parts as well as for small-batch production runs.

That being said, 3D printing is still too limited to offer a fully viable alternative to mass-production manufacturing techniques. As the DHL report lays out, these limitations include lack of management knowledge as well as many economic and technological challenges. For instance, many industrial 3D printers are very expensive and thus inaccessible, while many 3D printing systems are still limited in their material compatibility and are not fast enough for certain applications. It is for these reasons that DHL envisions a future where 3D printing is used primarily as a complementary manufacturing process.

“Not all products should, can, or will be 3D printed,” commented Markus Kückelhaus, VP of Innovation and Trend Research at DHL Customer Solutions & Innovations. “But encouraged by opportunities for greater customization, less waste, and more localized manufacturing and delivery, companies across many industry verticals are showing increasing interest in using 3D printing.” As Kückelhaus continues to explain, 38% of companies that participated in a recent survey claimed that they expected to use 3D printing for their serial part production within the next five years, but did not see the technology replacing more traditional manufacturing processes.

DHL’s “3D Printing and the Future of Supply Chains” report does identify certain key areas where 3D printing could be used advantageously by companies, including manufacturing spare parts on demand, “end-of-runway” services for parts that need to be designed and made quickly, and “product postponement services” which entail making customized, short-lead-time parts for clients. According to the report, product postponement services as well as individualized direct part manufacturing could necessitate new supply chain strategies, wherein local 3D printing services and additive manufacturers would need to be integrated. Likewise, the ability to 3D print spare parts could eventually result in the logistics company actually printing the part during the delivery process.

As Heutger notes, “As manufacturers adapt their production processes, new opportunities and challenges to the supply chain will be created. At DHL, we look forward to working with customers and partners to jointly explore new solutions and unlock the potential of 3D printing and integrate it into logistics and future supply chains.”

Posted in 3D Printing Technology

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Float wrote at 12/2/2016 10:18:17 AM:“Not all products should, can, or will be 3D printed” Wasn't that very obvious?



