[MUSIC] 20 years from now, we'll have Star Trek replicators that can make anything. That's a quote from Professor Neil Gershenfeld, who is the director of MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms and a very smart guy. This quote nicely illustrates the revolutionary potential of desktop manufacturing. Although we don't yet have Star Trek replicators on our desktops. Over the past decade, an increasing array of digitally-enabled desktop devices have been created, such as desktop milling machines, laser cutters, and my favorite, 3D printers. These devices are relatively low cost and fairly easy to use. Of all these various devices, desktop 3D printers are by far the most common, the most affordable, and the easiest to use. Thus, this video lecture will mainly focus on this particular technology. I first learned about 3D printing back in 2008. At that time, I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin, just north of here, and I learned about this technology from a student presentation. I was so intrigued that I bought a 3D printing kit and built my first printer in 2010. Since that time, I've purchased and used dozens of 3D printers and I've made a variety of different objects, including a copy of my wife's head, a shower head in the shape of a tyrannosaurus rex, and a six-foot tall 3D printed man. I also co-founded, along with my colleague Vishal Sachdev, the Illinois MakerLab, the world's first 3D printing lab in the business school. Now, I have a question for you. Take a few moments to think about your favorite object. You got it? Now, I'm not a magician, I'm just a marketing professor. So I don't know what you picked. However, I believe I can tell you two things about it. First, you probably didn't make it or even see it being made. And second, it was probably made by somebody you don't know living in a faraway place, most likely somewhere in China. In essence, your favorite object wasn't your idea, it was someone else's idea, you just happen to like it. However, if you have access to a 3D printer or other types of desktop manufacturing devices and know how to use them, you now have the power to turn your ideas into objects. According to several leading sources, including Wired magazine, The Economist, The New York Times, 3D printing will lead to a new Industrial Revolution and dramatically alter our economy. Thus, this new emerging digital tool has important implications for the way products are distributed and placed in the marketplace. Now, at this point in time, most people have heard of 3D printing, but don't really know much about how this technology works or what they would do with it. Thus, this video lecture will provide you with this type of essential information. 3D printers are currently being used by millions of people around the world to make a wide variety of different products. Here are three examples of how individuals like you and me are using this digital tool to create and distribute a variety of cool and helpful products. First, the Functionalhand. Our hands are one or two of the most important parts of our body. We use them throughout the day for all sorts of different tasks. Most people take using their hands for granted and probably don't even think about how they would get through life if their hands didn't work properly. Unfortunately, some people, especially those of us over 50, have difficulty using our hands due to a variety of different conditions, such as arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or multiple sclerosis. People who have these conditions often have difficulty holding small objects, such as spoons or pencils. In order to provide help to these folks, two designers in Chicago, Linda Merry and Molly Gardner, have designed a product called Functionalhand. This simple device holds small objects in place and helps people with hand mobility challenges use them by grasping the Functionalhand. We actually manufacture this product for Linda and Molly right here in Champaign at the Illinois MakerLab. Illinois is the new China. Second, Baker Cube. I'm not a very good cook, but I like to bake things like cakes, cookies, and cupcakes. My most favorite part of the baking process is actually licking the batter off the spoon. How about you? Now, baking is fun and fairly easy. However, it requires lots of ingredients and tools, especially measuring cups and spoons. If you want to bake a cake, for example, you have to measure lots of different things, such as flour, salt, and baking powder. In order to measure all of these different ingredient, you'll need at least one measuring cup and several different types of measuring spoons. In addition to having to buy all of these different items, you have to keep them organized and clean them off when you're done. There should be a better way. In 2017, a designer named Iomaa, I-O-M-A-A, provided a solution to this problem by designing a product called Baker Cube and posting it on a 3D file sharing website called Thingiverse. So that anyone in the world who has access to a 3D printer could download it and print it out. This ingenious product fits in the palm of your hand. It contains all of the measures that a baker would need, ranging from a quarter teaspoon, all the way to a cup. NanoHack, now, this is one of the coolest examples of desktop manufacturing I've ever seen. As you know, the year 2020 was unlike any other. The coronavirus outbreak quickly spread around the world, killed many people, and changed our way of life. The extent and the rapid spread of this virus quickly overcame our ability to cope with it, and resulted in a shortage of many essential medical supplies and equipment, especially respiratory masks. In March 2020, a small group from Chile created a digital design of a 3D printable mask made from a copper-infused thermoplastic. They uploaded the design file for this mask on a website so that anyone in the world who has access to a 3D printer and this particular type of thermoplastic could download the design and print out this mask for free. It took about two hours to print this mask, and it only cost $10, amazing stuff. This was just one example of the many different types of products that were digitally designed and 3D printed in response to the coronavirus. For example, a group of Italian volunteers designed 3D printable valves that could be used to connect patients to ventilators. Now, medical supply companies would charge as much as $10,000 for these valves and they were in short supply. The 3D printed version cost, you ready for this? $1, a very powerful example of how desktop manufacturing helps individuals achieve digital democracy. A desktop 3D printer is an electronic device, usually about the size of a microwave oven, that is capable of turning digital designs into physical objects through an additive process. In essence, a 3D printer creates an object one layer at a time in a manner similar to how construction workers build a skyscraper. Now, there are a variety of different types of 3D printing processes and lots of different materials that can be printed, including plastics, metals, ceramics, and even chocolate. Yes, 3D printing can be delicious. Regardless of these specific processes or types of materials, all 3D printers start with a digital model that they will then turn into a physical object. Thus, 3D printers are a good example of a new digital marketing tool. 3D printing technology is not new. Printers have existed for over 30 years. However, until recently, these printers have been very large and very expensive. Over the past decade, the size and cost of these machines have shrunk dramatically. Many of today's 3D printers can be purchased for less than $1,000 and are small enough to sit on your desk. As a result, the number of 3D printers is expanding rapidly, and this tool is quickly becoming democratized and available to consumers around the world. 3D printing is a fascinating technology, and one of my key interests in terms of both teaching and research. There are lots of things we could talk about in terms of 3D printing. However, in this deeper dive, I'd like to focus on three important topics. First, how does 3D printing work? As we discussed earlier, there are lots of different 3D printing technologies, including selective laser sintering, stereolithography, and fused deposition modeling, just to name a few. However, nearly all 3D printers work in one of two different ways. They either take a soft material and make it hard or take a hard material and make it soft. Thus, just about any material that can be hardened or softened can be 3D printed. 3D printers are computer-controlled devices that contain a print head and various electronic motors that move the print head or the print platform in three different dimensions. The movement of this print head is determined by a digital design file, which is read by the printer's motherboard. These design files could come from a variety of sources. It could be created using a 3D modeling software package, such as Google SketchUp, it could come from a digital scan, it or could be a digital download from a file-sharing website such as Thingiverse. Thus, if you can download a file, you can create a 3D printed object. Second, what's special about 3D printing? 3D printing has a number of special characteristics compared to traditional manufacturing techniques. First of all, 3D printing is a very sustainable manufacturing approach. Unlike traditional subtractive manufacturing approaches, such as laser cutting, 3D printing produces virtually no material waste. In addition, since 3D printers create products from digital files, these files can be shipped electronically and printed locally, thus eliminating the cost, both financial and environmental, of shipping physical products. Also, 3D printers require no set-up cost, such as molding. As a result, it's just as easy to make 100 identical objects as it is to make 100 different objects. Thus, there are really no economies of scale in 3D printing. This means that a small manufacturer, like the Illinois MakerLab, can easily compete with a large corporation. Finally, 3D printing allows us to make complex objects that come already assembled. There's no other manufacturing process that can make objects in this way, without some form of additional assembly. Third, how will 3D printing change business? As we discussed earlier, 3D printing is believed to have the potential to create a new Industrial Revolution. Now, this is a big claim. So why are so many people saying this? I think it's because 3D printing has the potential to do for physical objects what the computer did for music, text, and video. Music is a good example. When I was in college back in the 1980s, music was a physical good, a CD or a cassette tape created by a large recording company and purchased at a physical store. However, the computer turned this physical good into a digital file that could be created by anyone with access to digital editing tools and downloaded for a very low price, perhaps even free. Thus, it's not hard to imagine that 3D printers could have a very similar impact on a variety of traditional physical goods. With this new technology, literally any product can be digitized and downloaded. Thus, objects will become downloads. When this happens, it will change everything. For example, with 3D printing, you can download replacement parts rather than having to order them from manufacturer and have them sent to your home. Thus, manufacturers no longer need to keep these parts and physical inventory, and logistic companies no longer have to physically ship them. In addition, if a part doesn't fit just right, a customer will be easily able to modify it. Thus, 3D printing has the potential to change not only products, but also the roles of both firms and customers.
