Recently, the
new Uchumi CEO Dr. Julius Kipngetich hinted that the company is eyeing at the
e-commerce model of retail business. In essence, consumers will no longer have
to walk to a store but rather have products delivered at their homes by placing
a request online. This is following other entrants in the market like Rupu,
Pigiame, Ticketsasa, Nunuauza, Jumia, Mama Mike and so on. The retail business
is in the verge of a huge disruptive change and 3D printing is part of it. With
more sophisticated and demanding consumers, customization is essential. It is
not economical to customize and in a short notice for traditional manufacturing
method. The methods are optimized for large volumes of consistent output and
not for an individual custom made product. With 3D printing, the difference
between a customized item and the non-customized one is the same. Big online
retailers like Amazon are already selling customized jewelry, toys and gifts
using 3D printing. How about a customized phone casing, key holder, clothe
hangers, aren’t the possibilities are infinite?!
From a medical
perspective, 3D printing is really revolutionary. We can now print prosthesis
for patients who need artificial limbs in a customized manner to ensure they
fit comfortably. 3D printing of biological matter using organic inks and
super-tough thermoplastics can be used to regenerate failed organs or part of
it. These capabilities will also have an impact in the art industry; artists
can create sculptures using software and print. In fact, Adobe Photoshop now
has adding 3D printing capabilities, allowing users to design three-dimensional
objects and they can send them to 3D printers in the cloud or print by themselves. Well,
not sure whether the typical artist or a computer programmer will draw our
sculpture in the future. I look forward to a day when the mechanic can print a
car part, like a bush nut or screw, instead of waiting for it to be shipped
from Europe or Asia for months. This would affect every stakeholder involved;
from the manufacturer, shipping company, clearing agent, delivery truck, and
spare parts shop owner and so on. NASA will be able to install 3D printers on
the international space station so astronauts can print replacement parts as
needed.
The biggest headache of
3D printing is how to regulate it. What happens when people start producing
counterfeit goods at their homes? Among its other challenges are that the
machine consumes a lot of power, poses as a national security threat due to its
capability to produce guns, lacks guidelines and standards that govern
production and licensing loopholes. The benefits outweigh these challenges. They
can build complex components and achieve greater precision and finer resolution
at higher speeds and lower costs, taking manufacturing to beyond limits achieve
before. Prototypes can now be built as ease during product development without
investing in a manufacturing line thus reducing time to market. Engineering
tools required to manufacture some of these parts are not available in most
countries but with this technology, manufacturing will truly be globalized.
This is the time for
traditional manufacturers to think differently. The 3D printing is now limited
to complex designs and shapes but not for too longer. It’s poised to move to
the mainstream market segment where day to day products will be produced by
households and not mega factories. It is possible to integrate this technology
as a subset of production to cut down on overheads and remain competitive. In a
similar fashion to software development which became open source and community
based over time, the development and production of physical goods are about to
become community based rendering factories uncompetitive. Open source software
lead to growth of applications that lead to significant disruption of the
market and can longer be ignored. It is predicted that 3D printing will have a
similar impact in the manufacturing sector in the next few decades.
