What’s the big fuss with 3D printing?

You would never say so, but like the cell phone and email, 3D printing has been around for a lot longer than we realise. It seems to be trending at the moment, and it’s something that people are talking more about.
When we imagine a 3D printer in an office, we conjure up images of a printer that goes beyond colour and as we print out a picture of the Eiffel Tower it comes out like a paper structure that you can view in 3 dimensions – so it looks like the tower.
But 3D printing is not limited to paper, and in many cases the idea of an office printer that’s going to redraw a model that has been created on a computer is still a little in the future.
This type of printing can involve the use of machinery to cut or carve an object out of a block of something – so let’s say you have a block of polystyrene, then your printer will cut some sort of shape or object out of that block, based on the use of programmes and software that have instructed it to do so. Think Michelangelo meets robot, and instead of a block of granite or marble you have polystyrene or cardboard. And 3D printers have even been used recently to make gun silencers, so the applications are expansive.
What does this mean for the modern office? If you’re architectural firm or a model maker you probably already have one in the middle of your workspace. If it’s a bank or a small business, the applications may be less obvious. But don’t be surprised to find it in fashion designers’ workspaces either – you can make shoes and clothing using a 3D printer.
Does this spell the end of some industries or jobs? Well, not in the same way as the disruptive innovation of DVD meant the end of VHS. As with most things in life, only time will tell.