Social Impacts of 3D Printing

Marcus WiganAdjunct Professor, Faculty of ICT, Swinburne University of

Technology

3D Printing Showcase : University of Melbourne : 7 November 2013

3D Printing Showcase : University of Melbourne : 7 November 2013

www.mwigan.com

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

3D Printing: Why is it a social issue?

• User driven takeup

• RepRap*, Maker and Object Hacking Communities

• Open Source Hardware

• Open Source Software

• Open Source Customisable Objects

All these are user driven, user supported and have thriving global social communities already

• Industry is also seeing a movement to economic short run mass customised distributed manufacturing

• Intangibles are already 80% of value of major firms...

* RepRap: 3D printers capable of printing the parts to replicate themselves

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

Education is the first run killer app..

• Schools are a prime target.. Engineering manpower!

• The integration of software (Mathematica, Google Sketchup, MatLab etc ) stimulated at an early stage

• Mechatronics framed as fun

• Many similarities to the 1980 era of microcomputers

- Which were also driven by cross disciplinary social networks

• Jewellery and Food are already early adopters

• Art follows closely behind – Objects ‘impossible’ to make can be visualised and then created..

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

Fashion Art ; the Impossible Realized ; or your own item scanned...

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Fashion Art

the Impossible Realized

or your own item scanned...

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

Context

• Near universal computer access at all ages

• Cost effectiveness is already here at a household level

• Dematerialisation trends are still accellerating

• Global communications are now established expectation

• Disintermediation is a key disruptive aspect

- affecting retail, distribution, delivery, spares..

- and branding

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

User driven Retail Trade Disruption

• The ‘Aussie Tax’ is now widely resented

• Global communications demand global simultaneity of access

• Disruption of music, software, media, differential geopricing models now well advanced on the net

• Open Source software now widely trusted and competitive – and a global, responsive community

• Open Objects are the next in line..

• Mass customisation is increasingly possible – and will be demanded

• Business models that rely on expensive and limited stock spares are already under threat

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

The ThingiVerse Open Object Repository

Thingiverse is a universe of things. Download our files and build them with your laser cutter, 3D printer, or CNC.

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

Business models dependent on IP constraints are the next to come under social pressure• 3D scanning now affordable for average

consumers

• 3D printers already available starting at $200-500

• Object modification not covered by current IP controls

• The questionable behaviour of the entertainment industries have severely degraded the credibility of IP

• High priced stocks of small plastic items often requiring a complete assembly to be bought- at risk

• Small current 3D printers are already showing excellent rates of return in domestic environments

B.T. Wittbrodta, A.G. Glovera, J. Lauretoa, G.C. Anzaloneb, D. Oppligerc, J.L. Irwind, J.M. Pearce (2013) Life-cycle economic analysis of distributed manufacturing with open-source 3-D printers, Mechatronics Volume 23, Issue 6, September Pages 713–726

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

“What they found was a stark contrast between buying complete goods and making them at home: It would cost a consumer from $312 to $1944 to purchase the 20 items online compared to $18 to print them over the course of a weekend”

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

Social Aspects

• The global communities are already developed

- Thingiverse : a key first mover for Object access

• Home use is already moving into schools

- many school kids have already built RepRaps

• The software barriers are falling fast

• A shift to making consumer items at home is co ming

The Social Impacts of 3D Printing

University of Melbourne 7-11-13

Broader Social Issues

• The logistics aspects of manufacture and distribution

- every home and business is now a travel free potential delivery point for physical objects

• Sustainability aspects of both manufacture, assembly, distribution and delivery should all place a solid momentum behind government interest in even the early stages of 3D printing takeup

• The shift to a substantial fraction of manufacturing to utilise 3D printing (50% of GEs production within 7 years) emphasises the types of jobs that will grow

• Social impacts will be increasingly felt in employment, distribution and retail.