Disruptive digital-industrial technologies break down traditional barriers; new partnerships and collaborations are the fastest way to exploit their full potential.
Additive manufacturing, or 3-D Printing, is no exception. The partnership between 3-D Printing startup Impossible Objects and chemical giant BASF, announced last month at the RAPID + TCT additive manufacturing conference, is a case in point.
Additive manufacturing has already demonstrated its potential: with 3-D printing you can build parts that are lighter, stronger, simpler to assemble, more easily customized. The automotive and aviation industries have been early adopters (lighter parts means less fuel consumption), and we already have 3-D-printed medical implants, shoes, and drones components.
The challenge now is scaling: getting 3-D printing to the point where it can produce larger volumes, faster and at competitive costs compared to traditional manufacturing techniques like injection molding and CNC machining.
Read More at Link