3D Printing: Evolution or Revolution?

It is not science fiction anymore... It was only in the science fiction movies that a small device is constructing a three-dimensional tangible object with the help of a computer. Now, it is the reality.

3D printing is an additive manufacturing technique (as opposed to conventional subtractive manufacturing that deals with getting rid of the excessive material) which means adding layers of material one after another to form the shape of the object.

3D printers are in use for more than couple of decades, they have been mostly used for making quick prototypes. As 3D printers get cheaper, faster and more capable, its use will get wider for prototypes and even for final products.

Since it is much cheaper, required less skills and less material use, many industries turn into using 3D printers for their prototyping and end products. Producer do not have to make a certain number of items to cover up the fixed costs, each item can be customized at the same low cost with minimal risk. In some cases, even transporting the item is not necessary, downloading the digital design file and printing it elsewhere is also possible. 3D printer prices get lower very fast, with this pace, even the end users could buy a machine and use it at home to customize or design own 3D objects. Some companies already started using for; rapid prototyping, medical modeling, fashion accessories, custom fit shoes or helmets and most importantly spare parts for expensive machinery.

I think 3D printing techniques will continue to evolve. As it gets more affordable, it will get more adoption. In my opinion, eventually, it would revolutionize the industries as well as individual users' capabilities to put their innovation at work.

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Digitalization

Digitalization is translating functions and processes into digital data to improve them with the help of digital technology. It is one of the most widely used terms in the business world in recent years. Companies digitize their businesses to create models that use digital technologies to provide opportunities for generating new revenue and value or to make existing business models more efficient. There is a slight difference between digitization and digitalization. For example, scanning a piece of paper with the help of a digital scanner is digitization whereas digitalization is when digitizing all the business processes and data in a way that businesses do not need a scanner because all data is already in digital form.

Digitalization has gone a long way in recent years and we can say that it will increase its influence rapidly in the coming years. Nowadays, many services, products and processes are digitized data at the source. For example, most of the books you read are created digitally, many television and radio channels are now being digitally broadcast. Maps, films, singles, photographs, magazines, newspapers are few of the obvious examples of digitally produced content at their sources. Concepts and terms such as e-invoice, e-government, e-learning, e-health are utilized more and more every day. After digitalization has become so widespread and proved its benefits for increasing productivity, some other examples have emerged. Digital twins of physical assets are one of them. Digital twins of some physical devices can be created to apply the benefits of digitalization. For example, digital twins of traffic lights can be created in a computer environment to test any improvements before applying to real life. Another example, the digital twins of the wind turbines used in  wind farms can be used to increase the efficiency of electricity generation. 

With the raise of many new technologies and concepts such as digital economy, Internet of Things, big data, cloud computing, AI, Industry 4.0, etc, digitalization will be the driving force behind these technologies and will rapidly increase its influence.

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