It will be interesting to see if 3d printing matures to the point where it's feasible for large production runs over other methods like casting and injection molding.
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
It will be interesting to see if 3d printing matures to the point where it's feasible for large production runs over other methods like casting and injection molding.
I know for a fact that coloplast , a big danish medical supplies producer, is alreay using 3d printing , not only in their development, but also for initial production runs. 3d printing will probably never beat injection molding when the piece count is in the tens of thousands, but it just might for runs of a few thousand pieces. and then there is the possibility of making the molds from 3d printed metal(or some other heat resistant and durable material). I think that will definitely see some use.
Yeah, a lot of the people I've heard talking about commercial 3d printing as an alternative to traditional manufacturing talk about metal printing, either as a way of making molds or making personalized items that are a little nicer than the norm.