Does Moore's Law Apply to 3D Printing?

[Elliot de Cubeek]

Hi Vanguard i totally agree with your answer.
I work in the 1st 3D store in France called Cubeek 3D, so i'm use to print everyday and i'm aware of the new technologies, new machines and process.
Indeed i'll take the example of the Leapfrog Creatr "High Speed" model of the netherland company: this machine announces 5 times speed improvment compared to the Leapfrog Creatr (that has the same speed as the Rep 2), I'm not really optimistic with that.
Yes 3d printing still meets the physical bareer (i mean the FDM) that unallows 3D printing to be really fast, but in another hand i trust big companies as 3D systems or Makerbot will invent new processes that will change the speed of printing models.

[Elliot de Cubeek]

True,
but 3D printing will still exists in the futur even with the appearance of new revolutionnary technology as well as the ink printing.
Obama said 3D printing is the 3rd industrial revolution, and i believe it's not the same as coal: the concept is revolutionnary for the industry (create locally and delete the delays with low cost of production) but it's more a technological revolution.

[igranderojo]

3D printing is not a scientific revolution. The science has been available for decades. 3D printing is a manufacturing revolution. Instead of subtractive manufacturing we now have additive manufacturing where you can do things that previously could not be manufactured in one process step.
One way to create a marketing campaign is to compare speed between 3D printers and injection molding.
However there are many variables to actually profit from additive manufacturing.
Build volume is a key variable for some market segments.
Quality in the finally product now depends on slower speeds, layer height and other variables when using FFF or FDM.
The big corporations are going to be using lasers and technology that "Makers" can not afford and don't have room for at home.
Additive manufacturing will use different technologies in the appropriate market segment to increase the speed, improve quality and drive down the costs.

The market for 3D printers will have many different market segments depending on the results required.

Additive manufacturing is growing exponentially in different market segments at the same time. Many small businesses now have a 3D printer. Much of this is invisible to us except for a few news stories pre-selected for entertainment value.

[WillBe]

i think that is true, and i hope that is true!

[curious aardvark]

The really interesting thing about the current state of 3d printing, particular the lower end of the market is that it's comparable to the automobile industry in the 1920's and 30's.
Most towns had one or two car makers and anyone could laumnch their own brand with minimal setup.

And that's exactly how the current home 3d printer situation is.

Until the big boys: HP, epson, canon, brother etc launch their own 3d printers - we can expect to see exponential progress in all aspects, the more competition the greater the incentive to innovate.

Cost wise - that's really interesting. Most of the recent small company launches have been in the plus £1000 price range. To my mind if you want to sell a truly universal consumer machine it has to be sub £500.

So there's a lot of manufacturers who are aiming at the small business arena. There are also concentrating on safety (that one puzzles me :-) and quality of print. Not speed but quality.
And again that's puzzling for me.

If you're buying a machine for a school. The ability to produce a 0.05mm layer print in 20 hours HAS to be secondary to the ability to knock out a decent model at speed 0.3 or 0.4 within the course of a single lesson.

I went round the tct show asking how fast and low resolution printers could print and just got puzzled expressions.
The thing is that if - like me - you're mostly using a 3d printer to make practical and useful things. Then the ability to print invisible layers is entirely secondary to the ability to knock out a useful item as quick as I can.
And i can see a lot of industries with the same approach.

There's no doubt that moores law does apply - but you need to change the criteria.
The number of 3d printing companies is definitely expanding on an exponential basis - until the big boys launch and drive them out of the market.

At the moment we're basking in the golden age of 3d print inventors, pioneers and engineers. Every home inventor and engineer can design and sell his own 3d printer, and lot of them are doing so, with varying degrees of success. History tells you that this period can't last for long.

Let's enjoy it while it's here - I give it two years at best before one of the major 2d printer manufacturers aims something at the home market - and then things will change again.

[Feign]

It should be noted, that the golden days of the automotive industry weren't quashed by previously existing large companies coming in from the outside the way you fear, but competition was culled down by giants that arose from the field of startups. Much of the competition in the early automotive days were locamotive makers that tried to make the transition from railway to road, but they were too slow to adapt and were pushed back out. It's probably safe to assume that 3D Systems and Stratasys are going to remain the biggest names in the market for a long time. Companies like HP and Brother aren't going to be able to make the transition the way you think they will, but might instead buy up smaller 3D printing companies to use their brand and expertise in the market.

[tommcana]

Yes you are right 3D Printing is day to day is grew with new technology it's make s faster and better quality hope it's rate and price will minor.

[amberperez476]

3D Printing market is in the progressive phase of its life cycle. It was valued at $2,811.8 million in 2014, and is anticipated to reach $8,683.7 million by 2020. 3D Printing market is growing at a CAGR of 21% during 2015 -2020.

[MechaBits]

Moore's Law is not as certain as Murphy's Law, Price point's can stay the same while the technology or features improve.

[djprinter]

Stratasys already does this sort of thing with their Objet printers and they hold a patent on it which is good for another 5 years.

Soon it will be economically smart for Stratasys to start targeting the consumer market.