![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.facfox.com\/imgs\/2022\/03\/13c6dfd70dd1b7e7.png\")
Are \u201c3D printing\u201d and \u201cadditive manufacturing\u201d (AM) the same thing? In general, we know that terms stretch over time to include more than just their default meanings. Most of us carry digital entertainment supercomputers around in our pockets, and call them \u201cphones\u201d.<\/p>\n
Whatever the name, new ways of fabricating directly from bytes to stuff are radically changing the what, where, how, and when of making objects. What roles, then, do the two terms\u00a0\u201cadditive manufacturing\u201d and \u201c3D printing\u201d play in describing new ways of making?<\/p>\n
Consulting Experts<\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.facfox.com\/imgs\/2022\/03\/da9415f20dafd1f0.png\")
3D printing technologies continue to amaze. Source: 3dprintingmedia.network<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nLet\u2019s start by considering what the\u00a0experts have to say:<\/p>\n
\n- The standards organization\u00a0ASTM International<\/a>\u00a0equates the two terms in their definition: \u201cAdditive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, uses computer-aided design to build objects layer by layer.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Wikipedia says, \u201ctoday, the precision, repeatability, and material range have increased to the point that 3D printing is considered as an industrial production technology, with the name of additive manufacturing.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Author\u00a0Dave Turbide\u00a0puts it simply, suggesting that additive manufacturing is \u201cthe industrial version of 3D printing\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Putting these and other definition together, we can begin to see what the difference might be between 3D printing and additive manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\n\n3D Printing: It’s All About the Printer<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.facfox.com\/imgs\/2022\/03\/47fd67ce518b1aee.png\")
A ceramic 3D printer. Source: amtech3d.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhen MIT\u00a0invented\u00a0binder jet printing in the 1980s, they wrote\u00a0\u201cthree dimensional printing<\/a>\u00a0is a process under development at MIT for the rapid and flexible production of prototype parts, end-use parts, and tools directly from a CAD model.\u201d<\/p>\nToday our concept of \u201c3D printing\u201d is much broader, but\u00a0the term is often associated with\u00a0filament-based plastic printers, which are the\u00a0pride and joy of many a hobbyist and self-described maker. But there are also binder jet printers, laser metal 3D printers, as well as glass and clay 3D printers.<\/p>\n
Whatever the kind of printer, the term \u201c3D printing\u201d looks to the printer itself, and the full range of technologies that can build an object from a CAD file. How big of a part can it print? In what materials, and\u00a0and how fast? Is\u00a0the printer filament, resin, or powder-based? Thinking about 3D printers and \u201c3D printing\u201d brings all of these questions to mind.<\/p>\n
Additive Manufacturing: A Bytes-to-Parts Supply Chain<\/h3>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.facfox.com\/imgs\/2022\/03\/46d17f34f02c4b50.png\")
Topological optimization. Source: cloudfront.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u201cAdditive manufacturing\u201d\u00a0(AM) is a big picture term more at home in the boardroom than the factory floor or garage. Naturally, AM separates itself from older, subtractive technologies like milling.\u00a0Otherwise, the term is\u00a0less about the 3D printer itself, and more about\u00a0the manufacturing process transformed by 3D printing.<\/p>\n
What is that transformation? AM changes the way we think about inventory and supply chain, taking parts from the point of manufacture to the point of use.<\/p>\n
AM is flexible in the\u00a0time it takes to load a file, from anywhere in the world. It enables customized parts, in volume, and involves stocking raw materials like filament and printing spare parts on demand.<\/p>\n
Additive technologies\u00a0enable designs that are not possible with\u00a0subtractive manufacturing techniques, like hollow designs with infill or\u00a0topological optimized designs<\/a>.\u00a0In that way, AM is about taking all of the design and production possibilities of 3D printing and applying them to engineering, manufacturing, and supply chains.<\/p>\nAdding It All Up<\/h3>\n
In the narrowest sense, the two terms refer to the same thing: additively making\u00a0parts\u00a0directly from CAD.\u00a0 They are synonyms, both useful, co-existing in largely overlapping domains.<\/p>\n
For now, \u201c3D printing\u201d is a term for the\u00a0shop and\u00a0factory floor, while \u201cadditive manufacturing\u201d is for the enterprise and supply chain.<\/p>\n
This new way of making is a spectrum, from the tiny focus of a laser or the .25-mm\u00a0extrusion of a\u00a0plastic to concrete-extruding house-sized 3D printers\u00a0and global manufacturing processes enabled by communications and local 3D printing. One end of that spectrum is \u201c3D printing\u201d. The other, \u201cadditive manufacturing\u201d. Somewhere in the middle they meet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start by considering what the\u00a0experts have to say:<\/p>\n
- \n
- The standards organization\u00a0ASTM International<\/a>\u00a0equates the two terms in their definition: \u201cAdditive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, uses computer-aided design to build objects layer by layer.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Wikipedia says, \u201ctoday, the precision, repeatability, and material range have increased to the point that 3D printing is considered as an industrial production technology, with the name of additive manufacturing.\u201d<\/li>\n
- Author\u00a0Dave Turbide\u00a0puts it simply, suggesting that additive manufacturing is \u201cthe industrial version of 3D printing\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Putting these and other definition together, we can begin to see what the difference might be between 3D printing and additive manufacturing.<\/p>\n
\n\n3D Printing: It’s All About the Printer<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\nA ceramic 3D printer. Source: amtech3d.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n When MIT\u00a0invented\u00a0binder jet printing in the 1980s, they wrote\u00a0\u201cthree dimensional printing<\/a>\u00a0is a process under development at MIT for the rapid and flexible production of prototype parts, end-use parts, and tools directly from a CAD model.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today our concept of \u201c3D printing\u201d is much broader, but\u00a0the term is often associated with\u00a0filament-based plastic printers, which are the\u00a0pride and joy of many a hobbyist and self-described maker. But there are also binder jet printers, laser metal 3D printers, as well as glass and clay 3D printers.<\/p>\n
Whatever the kind of printer, the term \u201c3D printing\u201d looks to the printer itself, and the full range of technologies that can build an object from a CAD file. How big of a part can it print? In what materials, and\u00a0and how fast? Is\u00a0the printer filament, resin, or powder-based? Thinking about 3D printers and \u201c3D printing\u201d brings all of these questions to mind.<\/p>\n
Additive Manufacturing: A Bytes-to-Parts Supply Chain<\/h3>\n
Topological optimization. Source: cloudfront.net<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \u201cAdditive manufacturing\u201d\u00a0(AM) is a big picture term more at home in the boardroom than the factory floor or garage. Naturally, AM separates itself from older, subtractive technologies like milling.\u00a0Otherwise, the term is\u00a0less about the 3D printer itself, and more about\u00a0the manufacturing process transformed by 3D printing.<\/p>\n
What is that transformation? AM changes the way we think about inventory and supply chain, taking parts from the point of manufacture to the point of use.<\/p>\n
AM is flexible in the\u00a0time it takes to load a file, from anywhere in the world. It enables customized parts, in volume, and involves stocking raw materials like filament and printing spare parts on demand.<\/p>\n
Additive technologies\u00a0enable designs that are not possible with\u00a0subtractive manufacturing techniques, like hollow designs with infill or\u00a0topological optimized designs<\/a>.\u00a0In that way, AM is about taking all of the design and production possibilities of 3D printing and applying them to engineering, manufacturing, and supply chains.<\/p>\n
Adding It All Up<\/h3>\n
In the narrowest sense, the two terms refer to the same thing: additively making\u00a0parts\u00a0directly from CAD.\u00a0 They are synonyms, both useful, co-existing in largely overlapping domains.<\/p>\n
For now, \u201c3D printing\u201d is a term for the\u00a0shop and\u00a0factory floor, while \u201cadditive manufacturing\u201d is for the enterprise and supply chain.<\/p>\n
This new way of making is a spectrum, from the tiny focus of a laser or the .25-mm\u00a0extrusion of a\u00a0plastic to concrete-extruding house-sized 3D printers\u00a0and global manufacturing processes enabled by communications and local 3D printing. One end of that spectrum is \u201c3D printing\u201d. The other, \u201cadditive manufacturing\u201d. Somewhere in the middle they meet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n