3D Printers
rapid prototyping for the masses
Anne Carrihill
Steve Hooper
Holly Rosenblum
11 October 2010
1
3D Printing: Rapid Prototyping for the Masses
“A Manufacturing Revolution” – NY Times
“A Design Revolution” – Wired
“A Factory on Your Desk” – The Economist
“The Ultimate Do-It-Yourself Technology” – Fast Company
With press headlines indicating a game changing innovation, 3D printers are making a splash. Once only a
technology for well-funded and design-intensive technicians, the scale, scope and accessibility of the innovation
has expanded well beyond initial expectations. At the same time, the technology continues to improve which has
incited competition and lowered pricing. New business concepts have opened their storefronts, offering to sell
everything from 3D printed jewelry to prosthetics and print your 3D design for you. Even Jay Leno has a 3D printer,
using it to make parts for his vintage car collection. The ecosystem surrounding 3D printers provides a fascinating
case study looking both retrospectively and prospectively. The game for this technology is far from over.

The Innovation: 3D Printers
3D printers take three dimensional computer images and “print” them as threedimensional physical objects. The machines form extremely thin layers of material
over and over again into the shape of the object (pictures above). The materials can
be plastics, powders, metals, sugars or polymers that become solid via lasers, light or
heat. 1 The technology is similar to ink-jet printing, but the result is vastly different. 2
Generally speaking, industry uses for this technology are called additive
manufacturing, meaning that an object is produced layer by layer. 3D printers are the
most common device used. The additive manufacturing market was worth $1.2B in
2008 and 3D printers represented 75% of sales, according to Wohlers Research. 3
Other terms used in conjunction with 3D printing: rapid prototyping, direct digital
manufacturing, digital fabricator, desktop manufacturing.
Invented in the mid-1980s, 3D printing represents a new step forward in the history
of printing. It removed the need for time consuming prototypes created by humans
by combining a device with computer aided design (CAD) software. The original
intention was use by designers and engineers in high-tech labs to speed up their
ability to make prototypes and models. The “invention” of 3D printing has multiple
roots. A technique called stereolithography formed the basis of the concept, which
was honed and patented by a company called 3D Designs, founded by Charles Hull,
into the first commercially available printer in 1986. 4 MIT also created and patented
the technology that became “inkjet” 3D printing in 1993 and licensed it out to printer
companies, the first of which was Z Corporation. Open source projects launched in
the early 2000s are underway to develop new technologies.
Original Products
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Design intensive industries like
automotive and aerospace
Physical models
Prototypes
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Finished products
Working models (moving parts)
Tooling components
Prosthetics
Jewelry
Footwear
Ski bindings
Toys
Action Figures
Costumes
Architectural models
Marketing tools
Reconstructing fossils, artifacts
Art
Current Products
Potential Future Uses
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Customized products for/by
individuals
Electronic products like sensors
Short-run production
Biomaterial, tissue engineering
Homes & buildings
The technology has evolved in the last 20 years to more sophisticated materials and
precision, size options, and greater speed. A drop in price in devices and software has led to the usage by new
audiences, including small businesses. Growth has followed with revenues growing by a CAGR of 26.4% since the
first commercial launch.5 Units sold have also accelerated, 22,000 devices were sold in the first 20 years of the
technology, while 8,000 of those have been in the last two years alone.6 Sub-$1000 machines are expected to
1
Cascio, Jamais. “The Desktop Manufacturing Revolution.” Fast Company. 9 July 2009.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Three Dimensional Printing.” http://www.mit.edu/~tdp/whatis3dp.html
The Economist Technology Quarterly. “A Factory on Your Desk.” The Economist. 5 September 2009.
4
The Economist Technology Quarterly. “A Factory on Your Desk.” The Economist. 5 September 2009.
5
Wohlers Associates. “Industry Briefing.” July 2010.
6
Guth, Robert. “How 3-D Printing Figures to Turn Web Worlds Real.” Wall Street Journal. 12 December 2007.
2
3
2
accelerate this further. The market is predicted to split into the low end, characterized by low cost and speed, and
the high end, characterized by high performance, ability to ‘mass’ manufacture thousands of components and
precision.
{ 3D printing technology }
3D printers take images produced by compatible software programs and turn them into tangible objects by
building the desired object up layer by layer with the material loaded into the presentation. The length of time the
printing process takes can range from an hour to a day depending the object’s size, material and degree of detail.
Resolution is a key metric to the printer’s performance and is measured on two planes: layer thickness in fractions
of millimeters and “X-Y” resolution in dpi. Currently, the degree of accuracy is 0.1mm.
3D printers operate by a handful of technological processes:
 Stereolithography, the basis of the first 3D printers and pioneered by 3D Systems, dispense a layer of
liquid resin and hard it with an ultraviolet laser. The process is repeated for each layer until a chemical
bath removes excess resin and cleans the object at the end.
 Laser Sintering is another process that uses a laser to melt powder ceramics, metal or glass and then fuse
the layers together. This process was also invented in the 1980s.
 Inkjet technology was patented by MIT in 1993 and is used today under license by Z Corporation and
Objet, both large manufacturers of 3D printers. Here a liquid binder is released from the printing head on
a layer of plastic powder in the areas where the layer should be solid. A second binder is released onto an
area that is a cavity or overhang. The printer head is also equipped with an ultraviolet light that hardens
the area to be solid and turns the blank area into a gel. The printing head moves by less than a millimeter
for each layer, the powder laid and binder squirted (each layer takes 15-30 seconds at the moment). An
air or water jet is used to remove the excess powder. Color is applied at each layer, which allows for
multi-colored objects. Multiple binders can be used to allow for different types of materials. This
technology is expected to dominate the low-end of the printer market.
 Fused Deposition Modeling was developed by Stratasys in 1988. This involves a “thermoplastic” material
wound on a spool that is fed through a nozzle which melts and deposits it into the appropriate location.
The melted material hardens and another layer is formed.
Technological enhancements over the history of 3D printers include: quality, reliability, software beyond CAD. The
expansion of materials has allowed for multiple colors and multiple materials. Two-material printers are currently
available. Materials available now include powder with a binding liquid, plastic, metal, ceramic and composite.
Future materials could include cells, electroactive materials and electronic polymers. “The technology has been
radically transformed from its origins as a tool used by manufacturers and designers to build prototypes.” 7 The
most noted technological limits include the need for human oversight, breakdowns, speed, design detail/precision,
and the materials available.
Software drives 3D printing by taking miniscule cross-sections of the design and calculating then instructing the
printer how, where and when to “print.”
{ purpose & advantages }
Originally, design-intensive industries like cars and aerospace could create prototypes for proof of concept,
functional testing and review themselves in a confidential environment. As with laser printers, there has been an
explosion in the uses of this technology as the cost of low-end systems has continued to decline. The graphic above
details the many uses of the printers, from models to working parts to jewelry and art. “One of the fascinating
aspects of this technology is that it is so diverse.” 8 These take into account the advantages that 3D printing
provides: improved design process, quickly created prototypes, time and cost savings, reduced time to market. For
example, architectural models can create a working model in 1/6 the time and 1/3 the cost.
7
8
Vance, Ashlee. “3-D printing spurs a manufacturing revolution.” The New York Times. 13 September 2010.
Bilton, Nick. “The Rise of the 3-D Printers.” The New York Times. 29 September 2010.
3
3D printers allow for a tactile representation of a 3D design. This has been important selling point to designers,
who can decrease their risk before sending the order into a more expensive, larger scale operation. “It beats the
alternative method of producing up various detailed drawings that are carefully crafted into a prototype by a
skilled (and expensive) machinist, a process that can be a suck on time and budgets, especially if designers don't
get it exactly right the first time.”9 For example, before using 3D printers, it took Timberland a week of time and
$1200 to take a shoe sole design from drawing to model. Today, it takes them 35 minutes at a cost of $95. 10
Other areas of manufacturing have also benefited from 3D printers. A single component can be made in one piece,
instead of through an assembly of many. They also give the ability to do one-off or small-run custom
manufacturing at a lower cost.
11
The movie Iron Man 2
featured costumes
created by 3D printers,
going from concept to
reality in a mere four
hours while being
custom-fitted to the
actors.
Bespoke Innovations
uses 3D printing for
customized plastic
shells of prosthetic
limbs + fashionable
casings like leather
and metal
Walter Reed Army
Medical Center uses CT
scans to create 3D
models printed for
doctors to practice on
+ 3D cameras to create
a face shapes printed
as a prosthetic.11
{ market evolution }
The first machines were expensive and made by a handful of companies, including Z Corp and Stratasys. At the
high end of the market, the printers cost from $20,000 to $1 million, which are capable of precision and making
production parts. New companies have entered to fill out demand at the low end of the market as prices have
fallen to be more affordable while quality has improved. 12
The low end of the 3D printer market began in 2004. New printers launched at a lower price point for objects with
less precise requirements. This is known as desktop manufacturing, which as Wired Magazine notes “brings the
digital revolution into the domain of everyday things.” 13 The segment includes a range of companies from the
traditional 3D printers, to traditional inkjet printers, to do-it-yourself and open source printers from companies like
MakerBot (<$1,000, but requires self-assembly). Intermediaries have also launched who offer 3D printing on
demand of your own device. Interestingly, HP entered the market this year with an announcement in April 2010.
The “Designjet 3D” is built by Stratasys in Europe at a $17,500 price tag. Aimed to get a broader customer base
looking to make in-house prototypes.
Competitors in the software market have added to the proliferation of 3D printers. The original software package
was made by Autodesk and cost nearly $10,000. Google’s SketchUp product and other CAD software have been
launched, decreasing the total cost of ownership for a 3D printing suite.
{ future vision }
The future of 3D printers includes technological advances, more complex designs, a wider audience with greater
accessibility and new materials. This creates new applications at the high-end with more precise prototypes
created, at the individual consumer level through customization, at greater size like houses and in greater speed
for mini-factories. As Object Printers notes, “Design becomes much more innovative and creative.” The direction
the industry takes will depend on the evolution of the ecosystem.
9
Dillow, Clay. “HP will market 3-D printers to the masses.” Popular Science. 20 January 2010. Dillow, Clay. “HP Designjet 3D Printer Now On Sale, Churns Out Solid Plastic Objects From the
Desktop.” Popular Science. 19 April 2010.
10
“A factory on your desk” The Economist. 5 September 2009
11
King, Rachael. “Printing in 3D Gets Practical.” Bloomberg Businessweek. 6 October 2008.
12
Vance, Ashlee. “Shapeways and Its 3-D Printing Comes to New York.” The New York Times. 23 September 2010.
13
Sterling, Bruce. “The Dream Factory.” Wired Magazine. 12 December 2004.
4

The Ecosystem: Beyond the Lab to the Mainstream
The 3D printing ecosystem brings with it a varied and somewhat fragmented set of participants. No longer limited
to prototype model building, the technology’s applications appeal to a wider set of manufacturers, designers, and
engineers for flexibility, limited waste, and inherent cost savings.
Participant
3D printer
manufacturers
Open-source 3D
printer manufacturers
Firm examples
Z-Corporation, 3D
systems, Stratasys Inc.,
Desktop Factory, Object
Dimension Printing
RepRap, MakerBot
Software firms
AutoDesk, Google
Sketch-up, Alibre
3D printer parts and
raw materials
suppliers
TDL Plastics
Customers:
Manufacturers
Intent
To manufacture 3D printers for industry, individuals, and
3D service providers; build companies or business units
entirely around 3D printing technology
To create a collaborative, open-source, feedback model
that allows customers to build their own 3D printer after
procuring necessary supplies
To develop software that industry engineers, architects,
service providers, and individuals can use to create new
designs that are transferable to 3D printers for
prototype production; build upon current design
software business
To develop plastic, metal, and other materials that can
be used as key prototype materials in 3D printing; build
companies or business units entirely around supplying
materials printing materials for 3D technology
3D Outlook, Figure
Prints LLC, Bespoke
Prosthetics, US
Government
To produce product prototypes quickly, with limited
waste, in an economical fashion; key is reducing time to
market for new products; represent government
interests in adopting 3D technology, inform regulation
standards for widespread adoption
Printers
Shapeways, Sculpteo
To accept or create original 3D designs, print on demand
(large or small quantities), and ship directly to end
customer; saves the end customer capital investment
Designers
Freedom of Creation
To use 3D printing as method of manufacturing for
consumer goods, including fashion and home
accessories
To purchase 3D printed items, recognizing limits to
design quality and material quality in the technology’s
current state
To leverage interest in 3D printing as a way to integrate
products/services in 3D printing process; act as
additional information/data source in 3D printing
process
Online services that allow purchasers to search for and
acquire 3D printable designs
To focus on larger quantity production needs as 3D
technology evolves and captures smaller run production
End consumers
Complements
(3D scanners, 3D
cameras, CT scans)
Fuji, Olympus, Red,
Next Engine
Information
exchanges
Substitutes
(alternative additive
manufacturing
processes)
Genometri
Adler Ortho
5
{ ecosystem map }
Customer:
Manufacturers/
Architects
(Current use:
prototyping)
Parts
suppliers
3D Printer
Manufacturers
Raw
materials
suppliers
Initiative risk
Open Source 3D
Printers
Customer:
Designers
(Current use:
product
manufacturing)
End
consumers
Customer:
Printers
(Current use:
printing on
demand)
Information
exchanges
Software
firms
Complements
Adoption chain risk
Co-Innovation risk
In assessing risks associated with the 3D printing industry, it is helpful to consider three types of risks: initiative, coinnovation, and adoption chain. Described below are the key risks within each category:
Initiative risk: several manufacturers have opted to pursue designing and producing 3D printers for different
customers, betting that this is the next big breakthrough technology in manufacturing. However, just as important
as the hardware that becomes the physical printer, is the material used that ultimately becomes the printed
product. Companies such as Stratsys, Z Corporation, and others recognize that their technology will only be as
good as the materials processed by the printers. As a result, ensuring these materials are consistent,
environmentally sound, and readily available at a marketable price is a critical part of this technology’s initiative
risk to meet customer needs.
Co-innovation risk: critical to being able to print 3D objects is the opportunity to design these objects. Computeraided design software (CAD) that can be fed to 3D printers is the link that allows engineers, architects, and other
customers to leverage the economic power of 3D printing by designing new items that can be printed quickly for
evaluation. Without updated design software, customers are unable to initiate new designs, which entirely limits
3D printing technology progress. More subtly, software firms such as Autodesk need to develop software that is
simultaneously more flexible and intuitive so that a wider set of users can learn how to design products quickly.
The ultimate cost of the software suite will have an impact.
Adoption chain risk: perhaps most likely to jeopardize adoption by end customers is willingness to accept 3D
printed products in the expected materials and conditions. Precise specifications are improving as manufacturers
invest in research and development to improve materials used, but variability in output continues to challenge the
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technology. Similarly, while engineers, architects, and other professionals who rely on prototypes may agree that
having access to a prototype faster (i.e., hours vs. weeks or months) is beneficial, there is a risk that they will
choose not to make the investment in 3D printers (or order prototypes from 3D printing services). Critical to
customers adopting 3D printing technology is confirming that businesses are structured to re-align processes to
capitalize on more rapidly available prototypes. By speeding up the design process, 3D printing also pushes related
business processes (i.e., marketing, distribution, manufacturing, etc.) to react quickly.
{ collaboration }
A powerful signal to participants in the 3D printing technology ecosystem is the level of collaboration taking place,
particularly across industry groups. In March 2009, a group of industry representatives gathered to agree upon 3D
printing technology gaps, opportunities, and strategic moves forward.
“Sixty-five experts from academia, industry, and government attended the Roadmap for
Additive Manufacturing (RAM) Workshop in March 2009 in Washington, DC. Its purpose: to
develop a roadmap for research in additive manufacturing for the next 10-12 years. The
effort was led by David Bourell of the University of Texas at Austin, Ming Leu of
Missouri University of Science and Technology, and David Rosen of Georgia Institute of
Technology. These three individuals and those attending the workshop created the roadmap.
Sponsors were the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.”
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Wohler Associates
The collective industry developed a series of key initiatives as a way to establish a roadmap. Insights include 14:
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Revise and enhance design software to allow more complex designs and lower barriers to design access
for new users
Develop improved control processes that create feedback loops for production capabilities
Develop materials that accommodate more complex product designs, including atom-by-atom
specifications
Build applications in biomedical processes as a viable industry access point
Address opportunities in the energy and sustainability markets, leveraging minimal waste and cost savings
inherent in 3D printing
Design education resources to introduce and educate new users in university settings and establish
certification criteria
Develop and adopt internationally recognized standards
Design and build National Testbed Centers to enable access and exposure to 3D printing technology and
encourage innovation
So while industry has been using 3D printing technology for over a decade, more direct end consumer applications
are spurring research and development, the ultimate vision being a widely adopted desktop 3D printer. Reflective
of this end consumer interest is the presence of the 3D Printer Village at New York City’s most recent ‘Makers
Faire,’ held September 27-28, 2010.15
14
15
Bourell, David L.; Leu, Ming C.; Rosen, David W.: “Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing”, 2009.
Bilton, Nick. “The Rise of 3-D Printers.” The New York Times, 29 September 2010.
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The Analysis: Expectations, Uncertainties, Future Evolution
Setting expectations appropriately for this industry is going to be critical to its long term success. As with many
new technologies, there is a range of opinions about the total size of the opportunity going forward. Generally,
however, the hype around the 3D printing has suggested that it is the next big thing. For example, pundit Glen
Emerson Morris states that 3D printing “will likely have an impact on society, politics and business as great or
greater than the Internet.”16 The question really is whether the future will look like the Jetson’s cartoon show,
where every household has a magical machine that produces tangible products out of nothing. Or, is it possible
that this technology remains on the list of ‘next big thing’ opportunities for a decade or more, much like RFID, only
to be adopted by smaller niches?
The recent declines in the prices of low-end 3D printers have caused many within the industry to begin to compare
the 3D printer to the laser printer revolution that occurred in the 1990’s. An article in Fast Company detailed this
comparison well:
“With both laser printers and, later, CD/DVD burners, the first wave of ‘creative
destruction’ came when the prices dropped to the level where the devices were affordable
by small businesses; the second, bigger wave came when the prices dropped to a level
affordable by general households. Now, laser printers and CD/DVD burners are just about
free in a box of cereal--and, for many of us, the production and consumption of text
documents and music has moved to entirely digital formats.”
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Fast Company, July 9, 2009
While this analysis does a good job of detailing the adoption curves for laser printers and CD/DVD burners, it
misses a critical element of those adoption processes. In the case of each of these technologies, they were
replacing previous generations of technologies that already existed in the small business and home markets. For
laser printers it was the replacement of the dot matrix. For CD/DVD burners it was the replacement of floppy disk
drives. In each case, the rest of the supporting infrastructure was already in place and the new technology was
largely able to slot into the place of the old technology.
With 3D printers, it is not clear what the mass market adoption process might ultimately look like. Will it be like
MP3 players, where an iTunes-like system emerges to allow for a simple, streamlined process to download and
print a myriad of products? What exactly is the killer application of this technology in a home setting that would
cause a consumer to decide that it was more convenient to print products at home instead of hopping over to the
store to pick up exactly what they need?
In all reality, the first wave of adoption with laser printers into the small businesses might ultimately be the largest
area of adoption for 3D printers. Local retailers could begin offering 3D printing services – for example, ‘click here
to pick up your customized products at the shop around the corner’ – in addition to a traditional inventory model.
“Local manufacturing seems a good bet… for a variety of reasons. There's a particularly strong sustainability
argument around local manufacturing, from the rising tide of ‘localism’ philosophies (from food to media), to the
ability of 3D printing to extend the useful life of manufactured goods by making new parts. The sustainability
argument will become especially powerful once cheap overseas-produced goods reflect rising costs for fuel and
carbon.”17
To date, the adoption by product designers, architects, etc. has been a fairly obvious one, as 3D printing has
provided a better, faster, cheaper alternative to the traditional prototyping and small-batch production processes.
The local theme seems like a good bet as well, since “3-D printing could revamp the economics of manufacturing
16
17
Morris, Glen Emerson: “Desktop Manufacturing Hits the Home Market”: http://www.ad-mkt-review.com/public_html/air/ai200708.html; Accessed 9 October 2010.
Cascio, Jamais, “The Desktop Manufacturing Revolution.” Fast Company. 9 July 2009.
8
and revive American industry as creativity and ingenuity replace labor costs as the main concern around a variety
of goods.”18 However, the truly mass market adoption, on the order of magnitude that goes hand in hand with the
comparisons to laser printers and CD/DVD burners, is probably still a long way off.
In terms of strategy, Z Corp and Stratasys appear to be the longer term winners in the 3D equipment game. By
choosing the high end of the market and targeting customers where they can solve the most acute needs, such as
design engineering, architecture, military and aerospace, they have the ability to continue to refine and advance
their products, while the mass market opportunities become more clear. If and when that happens, much like HP
does with its ink jet printers, they will be able to create lower end versions of their 3D printers by “dumbing down”
their higher end versions and segmenting the market based on price and functionality. In the meantime, the
device technology continues to get better and better, reaping the progress of early investment.
By comparison, 3D Systems seems to be betting that the mass market is much more near term, consistently
striving to drive down the cost of its systems and even acquiring its way into lower cost product lines. For
example, 3D Systems recently acquired Bits From Bytes – a manufacturer of fully assembled 3D printers that cost
less than $5,000. This move signals a strong interest in the low end of the market as a strategic imperative. “With
Bits from Bytes in our portfolio, we are able to address more educational opportunities, capitalize on the growth of
the do-it-yourself market and provide powerful, affordable creativity tools to a broader audience than ever
before.”19 Part of the risk to mass market adoption is co-innovation risk of applications that make the 3D printers
attractive at a home user level. Players like 3D Systems are making moves into this lower priced, higher volume
segment of the market, but have not clearly defined these specific applications or how they intend to invigorate
demand in this lower end of the market.
Ultimately, the success of the 3D printing market will be determined by the expectations placed on it by the
pundits that write about it and the companies that are operating within it. With a consumer-level player like HP
throwing its hat in the ring (albeit through a partnership that appears to put little pressure on HP to perform),
there appears to be growing support for the industry. Only time will tell whether the projected mass market
adoption will materialize as many are predicting.
18
19
Vance, Ashlee. “3-D Printing Spurs a Manufacturing Revolution.” The New York Times. 13 September 2010
Abe Reichental, president and CEO of 3D Systems. “Bits from Bytes Acquired by 3D Systems.” Accessed 9 October 2010
9