3D Printing Holds Vast Economic Potential

Some of the most encouraging news in recent years, is due to advances in 3D printing and technology. Recently I came across the video "3D Printing is Changing the World", which is well worth the twelve minutes it takes to watch.

Indeed, it's surprising that the near future possibilities of 3D printing have not been more widely discussed. Instead, artificial intelligence gets much of the innovation spotlight, despite the fact that 3D printing could prove equally significant - if not more so. For that matter, emerging 3D printing technology is already evident in cutting edge research applications.

Granted, it may take some time, before 3D printing technology finally benefits local environments and improves the quality of life for millions with limited incomes. But once this finally occurs, the process could also usher in long term productivity gains. After all, 3D printing for local manufacture, would produce building components in ways which vastly reduce required time (purchase) hours for a wide array of building needs.

In the meantime, the above linked video highlights some 3D printing applications which are taking place in the here and now. For instance, healthcare researchers are taking 3D printing to a wholly new organic level, in hopes that organ donor scarcity might finally be alleviated. Plus, 3D printing is already contributing to models, parts and tools on demand, thereby assisting multiple development processes. For that matter, we have already entered a crucial period in which prototypes are evolving into mass manufacture design. From here, 3D printing processes will assume their first widespread production stages.

What directions might all these efforts take? Since there are currently many unknowns, perhaps this transitional effect helps to explain a recent manufacturing lull. While everyone's attention has mostly been on national trade disputes as disrupting global supply side patterns, there's also the reality that initial mass manufacture changes are still in progress. Doubtless, some participants wish to observe what takes place in the next few years, before broad investment options become more obvious. Some manufacture response patterns may change the extent to which global manufacture supply side patterns are configured, as well.

Another interesting aspect of the video was how advanced recycling technology could emerge, from research efforts to create sustainable site based manufacture on Mars. Should this research come to fruition, it could create impetus to produce more plastics as a permanent component of local recycle for local manufacture. I find it most encouraging, that research intended for projects far from earth, could create vast potential at home, by restoring production possibilities for millions of us - quite literally in our own backyards.

Recall that in the not so long ago past, local production in tangible goods, made it much simpler for citizens to pursue intellectual and artistic challenges without dependence on revenues from centralized national budgets. With a little luck, 3D printing could not only lead to production gains in non tradable sector activities, but also tradable sectors, thereby restoring the viability of decentralized manufacture in millions of left behind communities.