3-D Printing Changing Manufacturing Model For Local Businesses

When you think of 3-D printers, you might think of small, at-home projects. But the technology is now having its moment on an industrial scale. This week the Triad Business Journal addresses the growing trend, calling 3-D printing “America's next top manufacturing model.” WFDD's Bethany Chafin spoke with the Business Journal's Katie Arcieri, who's been covering the story.

Interview Highlights

On what 3-D printing entails:

3-D printing technology really allows companies to create these three-dimensional products layer by layer in just a few hours and it's really attractive to manufacturers right now because it allows them to go directly from computer to product. And that differs from traditional manufacturing like milling or machining because it takes out all these steps that are required in the traditional manufacturing process. 

So, in the traditional process you start with a blueprint and then you create a mold and then you go through many production steps. And if there's a design flaw you have to go all the way back to the drawing board. With 3-D printing, it cuts out all those steps and you literally have a product that you can manipulate over and over again on the computer, [and] you can print it out as many times as you want.

On which companies in the Triad are using the technology and how: 

Well, a lot of manufacturers are just now exploring this technology. No one is using it on a mass manufacturing level at this point. But Siemens Energy – which has a turbine plant in Rural Hall –Thomas Built Buses in High Point and a few other companies are just kind of now exploring this technology. Technimark, which is in Asheboro, is using it to create prototypes for plastic cases that go on CoverGirl makeup cases or the Olay jars for a skin cream. So it's not really being done on a mass level. But companies like Siemens Energy see that possibility down the road.

On possible job losses due to a new manufacturing model:

I talked with Michael Batalia who's the co-founder of a Winston-Salem-based company called Wide Eyed Technologies. And that company helps companies in the Triad transition to digital production. And basically he was just saying that there could certainly be job losses as a result of 3-D printing a few decades down the road. But he also is saying that there could be a lot more high level, highly-skilled jobs that are less physically demanding. 

On what's making it possible for businesses to utilize 3-D printing:

Well the cost of these printers has come down dramatically over the past few decades. Back in the 1990s or so, I mean it could cost you $300,000 for a 3-D printer. Today you can actually buy a printer from Best Buy for a few hundred bucks. There are industrial printers that still cost around $100,000 and you pay for what you get. But Chris Padgett owns a 3-D printer manufacturer in Greensboro called Fusion3. He sells 3-D printers for about $5,000 to companies like Analog Devices in Greensboro, also to universities like UNCG and High Point University. And he made about a million dollars last year in sales. That tells you a little bit about the demand for these products.