The additive manufacturing process of 3D printing – in which parts are built layer by layer, from bottom to top – has developed substantially since it first came to the market in the 1980s. With the technological advances we have witnessed in the past few decades, machines that used to occupy entire rooms can now fit easily on your desktop.

The processes of fabrication that used to take days can now be completed within hours; the materials have developed beyond their conventional plastic resins to embrace metals; and the methods have evolved; but perhaps the biggest advancement that 3D printing has been able to achieve is that a good-quality 3D printer can now be bought for just hundreds of dollars, compared to the hundreds of thousands that they used to cost.

Due to countless years of extensive research and development, the era of 3D printing is at last nearly upon us, and it is going to have a huge impact on our domestic manufacturing. Most developers are well aware of the benefits of 3D printing for prototyping reasons, because other forms of technologies require tooling whereas 3D printing can facilitate design changes easily. 3D printing has become much cheaper than was ever expected of it, and the benefits are many.

Better Prototyping

3D printing has become compellingly affordable and does not require you to build the tooling prior to the fabrication process. The designers have the ability to choose between different variations of the product prototypes to determine which design is more suitable for production.

Fast Development Cycles

The faster your development and production cycle is, the more inexpensive – and therefore profitable – it will be. The latest technology in 3D printers allows you to create products that are high-quality as well as cost-friendly for end users.

Versatile Material

When 3D printing was introduced, the process was only effective with plastic resin. Thanks to development and research, almost any material can be printed through these machines, including metals. A revolutionary new material known as Graphene can be fabricated into strong, yet light, parts. This variety of materials allows 3D printing technology to be embraced by a number of industries for manufacturing and production purposes.

Variety of Products

This additive process can be used to create a wide range of different products like medical prosthetics, action figures, clothes, and full-sized cars. The 3D printing method is being used to manipulate a variety of materials very efficiently, and so boasts countless applications.

Usable and Affordable 3D Printers

Some of the cheapest and most versatile 3D printers have been listed below:

• Cube Printer – $ 1,425
• M3D – $ 299
• RigidBot – $ 499
• Peachy – $ 100
• MOTA – $ 599

From a production and manufacturing standpoint, 3D printing will redefine the processing of a variety of industries in the near future. The methods have proved highly effective, its versatility has opened an array of opportunities, and above all, the technology has become cost-effective.