What, only a couple of decades ago, used to look like a bizarre invention taken out from some science fiction novel, now is part of many people's everyday life. 3D printing is now a practice that has so many fields of application, even the most unusual ones. Just think, for example, that more and more pastry chefs resort to a 3D printer to give shape to their creations. Architectural and industrial design, as well as civil engineering, are the most common application areas.
Nonetheless, many other industrial sectors are getting familiar with the practice of 3D printing, to have an immediate and visually fulfilling image of what they're implementing. And if sometimes it's still hard to find a reliable 3d printing instant quote (essential information to have a rapid assessment of what this technology implies in terms of costs), the rapid spread of this practice is making the search each day easier.
Since a 3D print is not (or at least not yet) something that anyone can afford to have every day, it's important to be aware of the user that such a technology could have on your job, and how it can impact a company's daily routine. There is no unambiguous answer since so much depends on how the company's workflow is organized and how complex any single project you're working on is.
By the way, those companies that managed to harmonize their needs with the opportunity to exploit this technology (albeit occasionally) have seen their profits rise significantly in a short period.
Another possible issue – especially in the less urbanized areas, those that are located far from the biggest cities – could be the availability of a 3D printing service in the immediate proximity of the client, or at least not too far from him. Let's suppose, for example, that an architectural firm needs to print a 3D model and doesn't (still) have a 3D printer among its equipment. Where to go to find this kind of service?
3D Printing Practices
There are so many possible answers, since as we said before the 3D printing practice is involving more and more disciplines, among the most diverse ones. Despite that, the most reliable answers are the following ones.
1. A physical print service equipped with a last-generation 3D printer.
The uncontrollable proliferation of online print services (including the ones that deal with 3D printing as well) seems to have struck a fatal blow to the “traditional” copy/print shops. Nevertheless, some of them have managed to survive (especially in the most populous cities) thanks to the addition of the 3D printing service. Many of them have become the reference point of a lot of private activities or even public institutions and through this ability to gather new potential customers they have managed to prevent the business' closure.
On the other hand, the digitalization era has made this kind of enterprise much more fragile and exposed to market fluctuations, so an idea to come out of the quicksand was indispensable for them. This implies that a brand-new 3D printing center is almost forced to adopt a very careful pricing policy and maybe some special promotions. The majority of young studios and enterprises can exploit this fact to save as much money as they can. It could be a good start for them, waiting to (hopefully) become independent and provide themselves with a 3D printer. From this perspective, it would be interesting to take a look at the second-hand market: it could hide some surprises.
2. An online print service.
This is a brand-new thing that is spreading all over the world during the last few years. The growing request for 3D prints has encouraged many entrepreneurs to implement this kind of service online. The result is (obviously in the best and most reliable cases) a 3D printing service able to compete with the physical printing centers, both in terms of promptness and cost-effectiveness.
Typically, a client can request an online quote, and only after having evaluated if it stands within the current market parameters the service can be put into practice. So, if someone distrusts online services, this should work as a form of reassurance.
Conclusion
If the boards of the company decided that a 3D printer would be a good long-term investment. Clearly, for the majority of enterprises, this is the ultimate goal, but it's also, in the long period, a quite necessary step. Not only because, if a company resorts quite often to 3D printing, this would be a significant money-saving; but also, because the company itself would be free and independent.
