With so many organizations around the globe adjusting their operations to meet sustainability goals, companies have begun looking for new ways to cut back on their environmental impact. As the technology has advanced and become more available to manufacturers, 3D printing is expected to become an integral part of many industries’ operations and could ultimately help companies achieve their sustainability goals.

Gesa Schneider, the senior territory manager of Central Europe for the 3D printing software company Markforged, says that the use of 3D printing has changed greatly since the technology was first utilized almost 30 years ago.

“With the help of new software, we can design complex geometries for aerospace and other industries, which can save fuel,” she says. “If you look at the automotive sector, every ounce of weight saved can lead to emissions savings and cost savings in the end.”

Schneider argues that the materials used to make 3D printed parts are more environmentally friendly than the components currently being manufactured and shipped around the globe.

“You have reduced material waste when compared to other manufacturing technologies like CNC,” she says.

Computer numerical control (CNC) machines automate the control, movement and precision of machine tools through the use of pre-programmed computer software. While this technology has been utilized for many years, Schneider warns that this manufacturing process is not as sustainable as 3D printing.

“With CNC, you take a big block of building materials and shape the designs you want, which produces a lot of waste,” she says. “With additive manufacturing [used in 3D printing], it’s the other way around. You only produce the part that’s needed layer-by-layer. You have almost no waste, only a little bit for the support structure.”

Schneider says that once 3D printing is more widely adopted, she believes the manufacturing process will be able to transform supply chains for the better.

“Everything that can be digitized will be digitized, and the same applies to manufacturing,” Schneider says. “It’s just about recognizing the advantages and having the courage to be first.”

She says that recent improvements made to simulation software allow companies to better understand and test how 3D printing can be used to make completed products or critical components. She also says that this software helps companies like Markforged make improvements to their printers, allowing them to understand why a company would want to use 3D printing in their manufacturing processes.

3D printing technology is also much cheaper than it used to be. According to a blog post from the global manufacturing company Monroe Engineering, the average cost of a 3D printer has dropped from about $20,000 in 2010 to roughly $1,000 as of September 2020.

Also, the global 3D printing market has more than quadrupled over the last nine years, growing from $4.98 billion in 2015 to $20.37 billion in 2023, which creates more competition worldwide, leading to cheaper prices for producers that want to use this technology, as well as a greater supply of printers for manufacturers.

While 3D printing used to be used for prototyping or creating parts in an emergency situation, it is now making its way into everyday production.

“Printers can now deliver strong products made with carbon-reinforced materials, which allows companies to use 3D printing more and more to make functional parts,” she says.

Schneider says that the ability of 3D printers to create stronger materials in recent years has made them a more viable option for manufacturing operations, allowing companies to be more flexible when it comes to making various products, critical components and spare parts. This is more important than ever with geopolitical tensions delaying the shipments of some key components.

By using additive manufacturing, businesses become less dependent on suppliers that could be affected by diverted shipping routes, enabling them to be much more responsive whenever a part is missing. “It puts manufacturing in their own hands,” Schneider says.

Though sectors like the aerospace, automotive and railway industries have started using 3D printing processes in their operations, the traditional manufacturing space is a sector that could greatly benefit from this technology, Schneider argues.

“Some of these industrial manufacturers have rather traditional mindsets on how to produce things,” she says. Failing to recognize the potential time and money to be saved, they look at 3D printing and say, “That’s something innovative. We don’t have the budget for that,” explains Schneider

Instead, manufacturers should look at 3D printing as an investment, because additive manufacturing can help companies save money on parts.

One powerful way to convince potential clients is to send them one of their parts 3D printed, just to show them how much money they can save when compared to traditional manufacturing. Parts can make up anywhere from 20-30% of a company’s total inventory expenses, but this would be drastically reduced if organizations were more open to using 3D printing in their manufacturing processes.

“If you have all of your physical parts stored within a digital cloud that can later be printed out whenever and wherever you need it, that’s a huge change,” Schneider says. “With this comes the flexibility to produce only when you need it.” It also drives innovation, she adds, because digitally stored parts can easily be altered before printing, opening up opportunities to collaborate with other companies and bring in other ideas to improve the parts.

Schneider says that 3D printing needs more backing at the local and federal levels before this technology can transform supply chains on a large scale.

“There also need to be more school and university courses that highlight 3D printing and the advantages it brings to the manufacturing industry,” she says.