Additive manufacturing, or 3-D printing, has become the ‘in thing’ of 21st century tech. While new iPhones and watches hog the limelight, 3-D printers have slowly and steadily been taking over small-scale manufacturing. Here’s a few cases where a small business might consider having their own 3-D printer on hand.
1. Quick Repair Parts
If your small business, like many, works with specialized equipment, you know that when things break down you can often be weeks behind schedule while you wait for replacement parts to arrive.
One major advantage of 3-D printing is the ability to print parts on demand. Granted the specifications for a broken part might be difficult to find, but in the event your equipment has open source specs online for its parts, you could save time and money printing your own replacements.
2. Real-Life Modeling
Have a product idea but not quite sure how it might turn out in real life? Don’t just model it electronically in AutoCAD; print it! If you use the right materials you can then get an idea of its weight and dimensions however it’s supposed to be used day-to-day. This can give you invaluable insight into how the real product might be used before having to actually build one.
3. Small Scale Chassis Builds
Aside from building a dummy brick to match your product, you could also build the chassis in small quantities before you get a full-scale manufacturing facility up and running. This would help ensure you can keep your costs low while still selling small quantities of your product, helping you to ramp up, rather than start with a massive investment in a new product idea.
4. Improve Employee Retention
Using a 3-D printer at the office provides entertainment and awe for employees. Even better, it creates an immediate connection in the employee’s mind about how your products are made; this is a physical connection that can’t be fulfilled by overseas manufacturing.
5. Improve Customer Loyalty
If your business relies on having a smaller number of large-scale customers, showing that you’re willing to do whatever it takes to create a great product, by printing prototypes before actual production, can only improve your customer loyalty.