Barnatt - 3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution

Many times across history a new technology has transformed our lives. Not least steam engines, assembly lines and personal computers all drove their own period of industrial transformation. Today, the latest revolution of the Internet is just about over, with developments in the online world settling into a gentle pattern of evolution. Yet even as this is occurring, a new revolution is waiting in the wings.

This time the technology that is going to change things is called additive manufacturing or 3D printing. These terms both refer to a widening range of technologies that turn computer models into real, solid objects by building them up in a great many very thin layers. For nearly 30 years 3D printers have been used in some industries to create concept models, rapid prototypes or mold masters. But the application of the technology is now starting to widen, with more and more pioneers using 3D printers to manufacture final products or parts thereof.

Within a decade or so, it is likely that a fair proportion of our new possessions will be printed on demand in a local factory, in a retail outlet, or on a personal 3D printer in our own home. Some objects may also be stored and transported in a digital format, before being retrieved from the Internet just as music, video and apps are downloaded today. While the required technology to allow this to happen is still in its infancy, 3D printing is developing very rapidly indeed. Some people may tell you that 3D printing is currently being over-hyped and will have little impact on industrial practices and our personal lives. Yet these are the same kinds of individuals who once told us that the Internet was no more than a flash in the pan, that online shopping would have no impact on traditional retail, and that very few people would ever carry a phone in their pocket.

In 1939 the first TV sets to go on sale in the United States were showcased at the World Fair in New York. These early TVs cost between $200 and $600 (or about the same as an automobile), and had rather fuzzy, five inch, black-and-white screens. Most of those who attended the World Fair subsequently dismissed television as a fad that would never catch on. After all, how many people could reasonably be expected to spend a large proportion of their time staring at a tiny, flickering image?

The mistake made by those who dismissed television in 1939 was to judge a revolutionary technology on the basis of its earliest manifestation. Around 75 years later, those who claim 3D printing to be no more than hype are, I think, in danger of making exactly the same error. As we shall see in chapter 2, over a dozen 3D printing technologies have already been created, with most in successful commercial application. Even so, we ought not to judge the potential of 3D printing on the basis of even the best of todays hardware. A fantastic technological foundation has now certainly been laid, with current 3D printers already allowing pioneering individuals and organizations to achieve things in new ways. But this point made, one of the key messages of this book is the need for us to recognise current 3D printers as a critical if transitionary stepping-stone to the future hardware that will herald the dawn of the Next Industrial Revolution.

With the above in mind, the goal of this book is to help you understand the practicalities and potential of 3D printing today, and to try and foresee its impact on the world of tomorrow. Whether you are an entrepreneur, designer, investor, technology enthusiast, student, DIY practitioner, or simply fascinated by new things, my hope is that the following chapters will prepare you for the next round of radical technological change.

The beginning of any revolution is always its most exciting period. The people who partake in a revolutions early stages are also likely to be those who will reap the greatest rewards, leave the strongest legacy, and have the most fun. The 3D Printing Revolution really is just about to happen. It is therefore high time for all those with vision to get involved.

Christopher Barnatt,

May 2013.

1. The Next Revolution

As I emerged from Moorgate underground station it was starting to rain quite hard. Most of the area outside the station was also boarded up for building work, making it difficult to orientate myself with the crumpled Google Map hardcopy in my hand. Even so, I stepped out into the dull, damp early afternoon of 19th October 2012 with a spring in my step. I was on a mission. And it was going to be rather interesting.

Arriving anywhere in a city around 1:00pm is never ideal, and especially so when it is raining and those on their lunch break are intent on using umbrellas to stop non-locals finding their way. Nevertheless I persisted, and was soon arriving at a venue called The Brewery.

As I crossed its cobbled courtyard I realized that The Brewery was a very upmarket place indeed. Well before the main entrance I was intercepted by an immaculately dressed young man with an extremely large umbrella. For a second I thought my clothing choice of a leather jacket had let me down and I was about to be turned away. But no, the now soggy ticket I was clutching along with my Google Map was enough to assure him I was legit, and I was let through.

On the door I was asked whether I was trade or press? My answer of both really did not phase an equally immaculately attired doorman, and I joined a short queue at a registration desk. A moment later my bedraggled ticket was exchanged for a glossy programme, and a plastic purple bracelet had been secured around my left wrist.

The strap line on the programme proclaimed that the Internet had changed the world in the 1990s, and that the world was about to change again. With this statement I also agreed. I had just arrived at the 2012 3D Printshow the first major 3D printing event to be held in the United Kingdom, and one of the first in the world.

I was there in part to shoot a video, and so before I left the registration desk I asked if there were any restrictions on the use of cameras. They knew of none, and suggested that I visit their gallery of 3D printed works of art as the main exhibition halls were yet to open.

The gallery was down several flights of red-carpeted stairs, and entering it was a bit like stepping into another world. The room was already heaving with people, and most were looking at its 3D printed exhibits through the cameras on their smartphones or iPads. Clearly my question about what could be photographed had been irrelevant! The room was also liberally festooned with things worth committing to flash memory.

3D printers turn digital computer models into solid, physical objects by building them up in a great many very thin layers. As the exhibits in the art gallery demonstrated, already objects can be 3D printed in a wide range of materials including plastics, metals and ceramics. At the centre of the room were a pair of white, high-fashion 3D printed shoes that their designer told me would be worn on the catwalk that evening. Only one plinth away was a display of very colourful 3D printed vases. Next to them were some intricate 3D printed metal sculptures, including one in the shape of a teapot. Elsewhere in the room were a 3D printed iPhone case, all kinds of jewelry, a fragmented human head 3D printed in black plastic, and a computer keyboard with raised 3D printed keys in the shape of a city skyline.