Chapter 7
Understanding 3D Printing’s Effect on Traditional Lines of Business
IN THIS CHAPTER
Understanding changes to production
Handling challenges to intellectual property laws
Using expired designs
Being ethical
As I discuss in Chapter 1, the transformative potential of additive manufacturing is so great that we are already in the middle of a third Industrial Revolution (See Industry 4.0), one in which local production is displacing less flexible and resource-intensive traditional manufacturing processes. This chapter discusses the potential disruptions resulting from this ongoing evolution and its likely impact on not only traditional manufacturing, but also personal individualized manufacturing.
Transforming Production
In addition to using sustainable alternative materials such as polylactic acid (PLA) instead of traditional petrochemical-based materials, additive manufacturing could bring back home manufacturing tasks currently outsourced to locations that offer lower-cost mass production. Such a shift, in turn, may affect the industries involved in the transportation and ...
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