3D printing will soon be an unstoppable force. Not so long ago, the limited output of 3-D printers as well as the printing speed made them suitable for fast prototyping only. However, in the upcoming years, 3D printers have the potential to be at the heart of full-scale production capabilities in multiple industries, from automotive to health care to housing. Manufacturing as we have known it will never be the same.

The stage for this revolution was not set overnight. Years of innovation have led us to the point where the 3D printing industrial revolution is happening now. Recent advancements in printing technology, material capabilities and speed are now aligned, and these factors together will push forward the entire industry.

3D printing has the potential to democratise the production of goods such as food or medical supplies. In the coming years, 3D printing machines will make their way into businesses of all types, including those that used to provide traditional printing services in the past, as well as homes, disaster sites and even outer space.

Along with growing landscape of competitors and investment in the 3D printing sector, these capabilities will shape custom manufacturing. When we combine all these advancements with an extraordinary computing power in the cloud, next-generation robotics and big data we arrive at the irruption of the Industry 4.0: a genuinely adaptive, cognitive and largely self-optimising factory. This huge development will largely be catalysed and empowered by additive manufacturing.

In several industries, 3D printing has been considered or even used for decades. However, it has primarily been in prototyping and design. Industries that are connected to this technology such as automotive or aerospace are starting to unlock these capabilities. We are just beginning to scratch the surface of 3D printing when it comes to outright manufacturing.

Perhaps a more important trend that is taking shape is that 3D printers are currently becoming mainstream presences in public libraries and schools. Children are learning how to use 3D printing machines and they are also expecting to be able to use it in the future. The following are just five cases where 3D printing will (or has already) revolutionised an industry:

Housing

Particularly when it comes to home design, there have been significant strides in 3D printing buildings and houses. The Chinese startup WinSun was the first company to build a 100% 3D printed home. Later in 2013, they printed 10 homes in a 24-hour period. These homes still required human assembly, as the walls were printed in their factory and then transported to their respective sites. Recently, San Francisco startup Apis Core built a low-slung dwelling in a city in Russia on location in a day, costing around $10,000.

Development

As this technology and capabilities spread, it will help connect difficult-to-reach and marginalised populations with vital products. All in all, this technology has the potential to revolutionise our entire societies, and truly transform the development sector. In order for this to happen, we need to make sure that this technology gets into the hands of development practitioners around the world.

The Sustainable Development Goals promise a bright future for our people and planet. However, goals this big will require big changes in order to succeed. 3D printing is being utilised to progress many of the Global Goals, and it has the potential to make a further impact.

3D printing is currently being explored as a potential solution for current and future levels of homelessness and hunger. For instance, some stakeholders are hoping that one day, a 3D food printer will be able to empower population to feed themselves. This sort of printer food would be long lasting, easy to transport, and could be made of sustainable ingredients like insect protein.

Sustainability

3D printing is also empowering us to utilise old materials in new ways that are more sustainable. For instance, researchers have discovered how to convert carbon dioxide into concrete by utilising a 3D printer. Using former waste to create future products allows our society have more efficient consumption.

Innovators and researchers are also exploring how to make this process more sustainable, for instance by using algae based filaments to reduce the energy required for the printing process. The creative usage of materials and production methods displays new possibilities and options as we approach climate action and sustainable living.

Automotive

The automotive industry is an interesting one to watch unfold. While in Europe there seems to be in an electric car race, the electric car incentives as well as the emission limits are becoming commonplace in this region. For gas and diesel vehicles, manufacturers continue looking for ways to reduce weight to increase the number of miles per gallon and reduce emissions.

3D printing’s ability to reduce weight, without reducing safety or the driver’s experience makes it attractive. This very same logic can be applied to electric cars. The battery technology is very dense and heavy. Lowering its weight increases the range a car can get on a single charge, and this is very attractive to vehicle manufacturers.

Medical

We are seeing a renewed interest in additive manufacturing or 3D printing for medical use worldwide. Leaving aside prosthetics that have become quite popular over the last year, we are seeing interest in creating medical models as well as cranium replacements.

We can also see a growth in micromolding. Micromolding has the potential to be a great alternative to designing and manufacturing medical devices used in minimally invasive surgery. Thus, with micomolding, MIS designers don’t need to deal with limitations of size or complexity of material selection for production yields. Medical equipment is often quite expensive so parts created using 3D printing bring cost-effective, functional alternatives to the table.

The 3D printing industry, once considered a gimmick, is proving itself to be a formidable game changer. Make no mistake here: 3D printing is the force that will upend nearly every industry over the coming years, and its influence is unstoppable.