May 9, 2013
Ryosuke Yamauchi and Tomoko Echizenya / The Yomiuri Shimbun Three-dimensional printers, which are capable of creating solid objects in a way comparable to printing letters and illustrations on paper, are sparking a revolution within the manufacturing industry.
The high-tech printers can dramatically reduce the time and cost in manufacturing new products, thereby encouraging more people to start their own businesses.
Because 3-D printers facilitate the conversion of ideas into new businesses, economists expect the technology will expand the support base of the manufacturing industry.
The government has also begun assisting research and development for these 3-D printers.
As careful and precise cutting technology is needed, molds for tridimensional objects can take two to three weeks to make. By comparison, 3-D printers utilize digital technology to convert an object's shape into data before spraying materials, such as resins, to create it.
Koiwai Co., a mold manufacturer based in Hadano, Kanagawa Prefecture, drastically cut its production period to three to four days by introducing 3-D printers. Additionally, the firm has become able to produce more complicated shapes.
The 3-D printer technology first came into practical use in the 1980s. The machines' accuracy and speed have improved at a time when patents for the technology's main features have expired.
Now, individuals can purchase 3-D printers for just over 100,000 yen.
The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry earmarked 150 million yen in assistance for developing 3-D printers in its fiscal 2013 draft budget and is aiming for a total of 3 billion yen toward that goal over the next five years.
The ministry plans to increase 3-D printers' production speed by about 100-fold, as well as expand the scope of objects that can be made in terms of precision and materials. It also plans to assist efforts to make the products lighter and harder.
Wide range of applications
Panasonic Corp. has introduced 3-D printers made by Stratasys Ltd., a firm based in the United States and Israel, to manufacture frames for digital cameras. By doing so, the firm has shortened the time needed for development.
In the medical industry, 3-D printers have been used for casting artificial bones and dental molds.
The ministry is eyeing a wide range of applications for 3-D printers, such as producing higher-performance parts to improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions for automobiles.
However, advancing the capability of 3-D printers could be a double-edged sword as manufacturing complex and metallic molds has been a speciality of Japanese firms. If the price of 3-D printing were to fall further, it could deal a major blow to the Japanese manufacturing industry.
Prof. Masahiro Anzai of the Shibaura Institute of Technology said: "Japanese manufactures will need to develop the level of their technology. They need to focus more on creating high value-added products by, for instance, making more sophisticated versions."
In the United States, President Barack Obama has vowed to revitalize his nation's manufacturing industry and expressed his intent to support the research and development of 3-D casting technologies in his State of the Union address in February.
According to a U.S. market research company, the market for 3-D printers in terms of hardware and related services totaled 1.7 billion dollars (about 170 billion yen) in 2011, and will expand to 3.7 billion dollars worldwide in 2015.
Among Japanese firms, Keyence Corp., a major manufacturer of control instruments, tried to enter the market, but the majority of the global market share has been snapped up by Stratasys and 3D Systems Corp. of the United States.
In a bid to maintain its advantage in 3-D printer technology, the United States is encouraging collaboration between the public and private sectors.
Newly established firms are also diving into the U.S. market. Established in 2009, MakerBot Industries LLC has sold about 15,000 3-D printers and counts the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and General Electric Co. among its clients.
GE has used the firm's 3-D printers to produce parts for its new engine models.
MakerBot Chief Executive Officer Bre Pattis said that by using 3-D printers, ordinary people can become designers and obtain whatever they want.
3D Robotics CEO Chris Anderson, who helped internationalize 3-D printers with his book "Makers," said a new industrial revolution is happening at people's desks.
In his book, Anderson said the proliferation of digital technology that enables people to easily convert their ideas into products will give birth to a new era of entrepreneur-based creative manufacturing.
Echizenya is a correspondent in New York.
