3D printing set to hit the mainstream

A new breed of entrepreneurs - hidden away in bedrooms, basements and garages - are about to unleash their talent on the rest of the world. The movement, which has rapidly gained momentum over the past few years, could see manufacturing shift away from mass production towards a model of ‘mass customisation’.

The emergence of these innovators has been fuelled by 3D printing, a technique that builds up solid objects layer by layer. The technology, also known as additive manufacturing, has been used in industry since the 1980s. Back then it was the preserve of large engineering companies, mainly in the aerospace and motorsport sectors, with a typical machine costing anything between $100,000 to $1m.

The high costs were partly due to the patents held on the machines. ‘What is really interesting is, over the past few years, we are seeing a lot of the patents expiring and becoming available to entrepreneurs,’ said Andrew Sissons, a researcher at Lancaster University’s Big Innovation Centre. ‘It’s not necessarily the inventors of the technology who are the ones to take it forward. We are about to see an explosion where 3D printers will be used not just in factories but in shops and in the home.’