Businesses today are moving at a very fast pace, technologically. Because of all the progress that’s happening, it’s no surprise that companies have also gotten even more advanced with their practices and processes. One of these advancements that have resulted in tremendous benefits for a digital business is 3D printing.
When a business utilizes this process, marketing improves, prototypes can easily be made, and even manufacturing are boosted. While it may cost quite a bit to invest in 3D printing and the machine itself, once your company starts to reap the returns, you’ll find that all that effort actually yields to promising profits.
That said, here are good reasons for your business to invest in 3D printing:
It Enables More Flexibility
Thanks to 3D printing technology with the use of equipment, like the PLA 3D printer filament, gone are the days when the process was limited only to the basics. In the past, had you wanted to print more complex designs, you would’ve needed to outsource this job to expert printing companies. At present, you can print with ease, without being constricted by the design restrictions that is experienced with traditional printing.
It Allows Your Business to Create A Proof of Concept and Prototype
Proof of concept refers to that stage in product development between the idea and the prototype. It’s created before making the final model to show the usability of the product’s concept.
How functional is it? Does it serve a very good purpose? This is an important step to undertake, as without it, you may commit the mistake of jumping directly from a sketch to a prototype, and then discovering mistakes that are already hard to correct.
It’s advantageous to use 3D printing ideas and uses, like your proof of concept, for the following reasons:
- It speeds up the design process.
- It improves accessibility.
- It reduces production costs.
It Enables On-Demand Manufacturing
Striking this balance between supply and demand can be very challenging. If you produce too little, you may not be able to keep up with demand. This can result in losing customers and sending them to your competitors. If you produce too much, then you’re also wasting valuable company resources.
To avoid these kinds of situations, manufacturers use algorithms to determine how much to produce. However, rather than producing an estimate or anticipation of demand, a better option is to produce according to how many people order it. That way, you’re able to get things 100% correctly, with zero wastage.
This is where on-demand manufacturing comes in. This refers to the process of creating only what you need, and exactly when it’s needed. 3D printing is one of those technologies that can make this possible, as the lead time would be significantly reduced.
It Creates A Competitive Advantage
In today’s business arena where the competition is so strong, it’s very important to be able to strike that competitive edge or advantage against other companies. 3D printing is one of the assets that can give your business this competitive edge.
This is because, right from the core of manufacturing, all your processes are more efficient. Not only are you able to produce better products, but at faster speeds too. From the marketing perspective, this helps you build your brand to a great extent.
It Consolidates the Supply Chain
Particularly when your business is manufacturing your own products, one of the hardest departments to manage is the supply chain. Especially now that the manufacturing environment is becoming more volatile and uncertain, there’s that greater need to ensure that the complexity of the supply chain is reduced.
Remember the point above on how 3D printing enables complex printing that otherwise would’ve been possible using traditional methods. Now that you have this advantage, you can reduce parts that are used in the assembly process.
This way, the supply chain becomes shorter and easier to manage. This is also what’s known as parts consolidation. There are fewer parts that need to be procured or outsourced, as you’re now able to complete the entire design process in-house.
When the complexity of the supply chain is reduced, the risk of errors and any disruption is also lowered. For instance, you’ll no longer have to go through the challenges normally associated with instances when your trusted supplier can no longer fulfill orders for certain parts, as you can now manufacture these by yourself.
Conclusion
Nowadays, using 3D printing as a part of business processes goes beyond just developing new tools. When this kind of technology is embraced, you can enjoy a major impact on how your business operates better.
In turn, services can be better provided to customers and profits may also drastically improve. With the benefits enumerated above, these should be convincing enough for you that 3D printing is indeed a very good investment to make for your business today.
