Whether you need rapid prototyping or serial production, there is a place in your business model for 3D printing.
This transformative technology continues to revolutionise the manufacturing process and save businesses loads of money compared to traditional manufacturing techniques.
How? We’re glad you asked!
Here are 10 reasons why your business should start including 3D printing in its supply chain.
How Additive Manufacturing Can Save Your Business Time and Money
Reduction in Material Waste
Traditional manufacturing processes often involve cutting away material from a larger block, which can result in significant waste – particularly in complex designs. 3D printing, on the other hand, is an additive process, building parts layer by layer with precision.
This method minimises excess material usage, translating directly into cost savings, especially when using expensive materials like specialised polymers. So, the savings to your business start with raw material costs, but the savings continue!
Lower Inventory Costs
With 3D printing, businesses can move towards just-in-time manufacturing, producing parts as needed rather than maintaining large inventories of pre-manufactured components. This reduces storage costs and decreases the risk of parts being obsolete – which can potentially cost thousands in wasted spare parts.
In fast-evolving sectors like motorsport and energy, the ability to produce parts on demand ensures that designs can be quickly iterated and improved without the financial burden of leftover inventory.
Reduced Prototyping Expenses
Developing new products or components typically involves creating multiple prototypes, which can be time-consuming and costly using traditional methods. With the costs of jigs and tooling alone, it’s enough to make prototypes an eye-wateringly expensive endeavour for small businesses and large businesses alike!
3D printing significantly lowers the cost of prototyping by allowing rapid and affordable production of prototype parts. Multiple iterations to sneak up on the perfect product or part is much cheaper with 3D printing than conventional manufacturing thanks to how easy it is to print new parts with slight alterations.
This accelerates the development process, enabling quicker time-to-market and the ability to test and refine designs without the high costs associated with conventional prototyping techniques. When it comes to low-volume production processes like prototyping, 3D printing is very hard to beat!
Lower Maintenance Costs
Now, you may not be too concerned about the maintenance costs of machines that you don’t own, but you should be. Maintenance costs, energy bills and employee time will be factored into the pricing structure of the company making your parts.
With maintenance coming in at a much lower cost for 3D printing when compared to typical CNC and manual machinery, these cost savings soon add up.
Customisation and Personalisation
In sectors like medical and aerospace, customised solutions are often required to meet specific needs or regulatory standards.
3D printing facilitates the production of custom parts without the need for expensive tooling or moulds. For instance, bespoke medical implants or patient-specific surgical guides can be produced more cost-effectively than using traditional manufacturing methods just by changing the design.
Similarly, aerospace components can be tailored to exact specifications, improving performance and safety while keeping costs in check. Not to mention, personalisation of parts is as simple as a few tweaks in the design phase, for a lovely personal touch.
Decreased Labour Costs
Traditional manufacturing often involves multiple steps and a significant amount of manual labour. 3D printing automates much of the production process, reducing the need for extensive labour – leading to significant cost savings for your business.
This is particularly beneficial for industries like aerospace, medicine and motorsport, where precision, speed and reliability are paramount.
Reduced Human Error
To err is human. It’s natural for humans to make mistakes, but sadly these mistakes can cause delays in production, entire prototypes to be placed in the bin rather than a testing environment, and your production costs to skyrocket.
For example, if you are injection moulding parts, and there is a mistake in the mould, the entire thing will need to be remade causing a loss of time, money and plenty of grey hairs for everyone involved.
With 3D printing, though, if a mistake is made in the design, it’s simply of case of amending the data, tinkering with the build set up and going again. This means that mistakes are less costly to your company and your hairline!
Enhanced Design Flexibility and Innovation
The flexibility of 3D printing allows for much more complex and intricate designs that are often impossible or too costly to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods.
A prime example of this is topology optimisation. This removes a lot of the excess from parts while keeping the essential boundaries of the piece intact. The resulting product is lighter, more complex and uses less material, so is often cheaper to manufacture.
Techniques like topology optimisation enable businesses to innovate and optimise their products for better performance and reduced material usage. The possibilities are nearly endless when it comes to 3D printing, where traditional manufacturing struggles, additive manufacturing shines.
Material Choice
There is a wealth of materials available in additive manufacturing, so you can choose the ideal material needed to make sure your products are perfect.
From chemical-resistant and strong materials like Carbon Peek capable of creating a durable yet thin layer of material, to precise and smooth materials like PA 603 CF – the possibilities are endless. You can even enjoy strength and performance comparable to metal alloys with Carbon PA. Or for even low costs, you can use PA12, a versatile material with a host of uses in many different applications and sectors.
Faster Production Times
Finally, 3D printing can significantly reduce the time required to produce parts, from initial design to final product. This speed is crucial in industries like motorsport, where rapid iteration and deployment of components always provide a competitive edge. Similarly, in the medical field, faster production times can enhance patient outcomes by providing quicker access to custom medical devices and implants.
The faster production times alone can lead to a whole load of cost savings for your business.
Final Thoughts
Adopting 3D printing technology can offer substantial and continuous financial benefits for so many businesses in so many sectors. By leveraging high-quality 3D printing services, your business can achieve greater efficiency and innovate faster. From mass customisation, easy-to-produce prototypes and cost-effective ways of speeding up production times and reducing labour-intensive tasks, it’s easy to see why 3D printing can save your company a lot of money!
If you want to reduce costs without compromising on the quality of your parts, get in touch with Prototal UK today. From prototypes to the final part, save time and money with 3D printing.
