Abstract
Through reduced 3-D printer cost, increased usability, and greater material selection, additive manufacturing has transitioned from business manufacturing to the average prosumer. This study serves as a representative model for the potential future of 3-D printing in the average American household by employing a printer operator who was relatively unfamiliar with 3-D printing and the 3-D design files of common items normally purchased by the average consumer. Twenty-six items were printed in thermoplastic and a cost analysis was performed through comparison to comparable, commercially available products at a low and high price range. When compared to the low-cost items, investment in a 3-D printer represented a return of investment of over 100% in five years. The simple payback time for the high-cost comparison was less than 6 months, and produced a 986% return. Thus, fully-assembled commercial open source 3-D printers can be highly profitable investments for American consumers. Finally, as a preliminary gauge of the effect that widespread prosumer use of 3-D printing might have on the economy, savings were calculated based on the items’ download rates from open repositories. Results indicate that printing these selected items have already saved prosumers over $4 million by substituting for purchases.
Highlights
IntroductionReferred to as household manufacturing, has a lengthy history in the United States which resulted in the emergence of domestic commerce [1,2]
Private manufacturing, referred to as household manufacturing, has a lengthy history in the United States which resulted in the emergence of domestic commerce [1,2]
Considering past work in the context of the technical sophistication of the American public, two questions arise: Will 3-D printing be relegated largely to replacing conventional manufacturing techniques and creating the potential for more distributed business-based manufacturing [29,30]? Alternatively, can 3-D printing be used to economically manufacture in the majority of American homes of technically illiterate people? In addition, it is worth acknowledging that financial savings provide just one contribution to a consumer’s motivations, so economic analysis must be kept in context. To probe this latter question of the economic viability of this scale of 3-D printing for home manufacturing in the developed world, this study reports on the life-cycle economic analysis (LCEA)
Summary
Referred to as household manufacturing, has a lengthy history in the United States which resulted in the emergence of domestic commerce [1,2]. With the development of interchangeable parts, came the assembly line, and manufacturing transitioned to standardized high-volume mass production [3,4]. Greater flexibility, and higher average product performance contributed significantly to this transition [5]. A global trend toward large-scale, centralized manufacturing and global shipping, for inexpensive plastic products, has arisen alongside growing world consumerism [6,7]. Economies of scale provided consumers with more convenient and lower-priced goods than what they could make themselves [8]. The rapid growth of the 3-D printing industry may change this trend
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