As the world enters the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0, buzzwords such as additive manufacturing a.k.a. 3D printing are disrupting manufacturing and changing the roles of manufacturers, designers and producers. Although the technology has been around since the 1980s, as computing power improves, more data is available and the technology is more and more integrated with our workflow, it has become increasingly popular in recent years.
Additive manufacturing is a technology that aims to eliminate certain limitations of manufacturing technology based on traditional subtraction and introduce a completely new retail model.
When insiders noticed the changing manufacturing landscape, McKinsey predicted that by 2025, additive manufacturing would have an annual economic impact of $550 billion. In addition, when it comes to the size of the global additive manufacturing market, it was estimated at US$3.1 billion in 2013 and is now expected to grow to 21 billion by 2020.
Additive Manufacturing in the Fashion Industry
The fashion industry is also realizing the benefits and improvements that 3D printing technology may bring to the design and manufacturing process.
Dutch senior women’s designer Iris van Herpen can be said to be a pioneer in fashion 3D printing. She showed her Escapism series at Paris Haute Couture Week (Spring/Summer 2011). The entire series was 3D printed, including flowing dresses and spherical wing-shaped silhouettes, and was even selected as one of the 50 best inventions of the year by Time magazine.
This revolutionary technology also inspired independent designers, such as ecologist and clean technology industry manager Julia Daviy and footwear designer Silvia Fado, who used additive manufacturing to design 3D printed dresses, tops, and shoes.
Today, users of additive manufacturing have expanded from high-fashion studios to start-ups and commercial manufacturers, such as the Boston-based high-performance business brand supply department, the German big company Adidas, and even high-end watch manufacturers (such as Officine Panerai). Additive manufacturing techniques are used in the design of various garments such as clothing, accessories, jewelry and even shoes.
This widespread adoption of additive manufacturing is largely due to the potential benefits that 3D printing technology brings to the design process. We will discuss in detail the five benefits of additive manufacturing.
Optimization of Design and Prototyping Processes
Using CAD software, designers do not need to spend a lot of time physically drawing and editing prototype illustrations during the ideation phase of the creative process. They also do not need to manually assemble physical prototypes to visualize their designs.
As a result, their creative process becomes more efficient, and designers can spend more time on iterative prototypes and more prototype experiments without having to spend time and effort on separate construction.
Enhanced Accuracy and Accountability in Other Stages of the Supply Chain
In addition to the creative process, designers can also use additive manufacturing techniques to provide potential buyers with more accurate samples and renderings when selling their designs. By being able to visualize designer products more accurately, buyers may be more motivated to sell.
In addition, other participants in the supply chain (such as suppliers) must also comply with higher and more transparent standards. For example, according to the FashionRetail blog, when purchasing, suppliers will face more responsibility to provide accurate samples and final products. These measures increase transparency and thus increase sales.
Reduction in Waste
Additive manufacturing runs in direct contrast to traditional means of manufacturing, which typically involve the removal of portions of material from a source and generating inordinate volumes of waste.
The process is far less wasteful than current antiquated clothing manufacturing techniques and processes which date back to the 19th century. Each year, UK consumers spend £44 billion on clothing. In the same period, per UK household, garment manufacture:
- generates 1.8 million tonnes of waste material – equivalent to 100 pairs of jeans;
- uses 6.3 billion m³ of water – 1,000 filled bathtubs per UK household;
- has a carbon footprint estimated at 1.5 tonnes of CO2e per UK household.
However, since additive manufacturing adds material to a source, these practices result in zero wastage throughout the manufacturing process. This is a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly practice that allows brands and manufacturers to meet and even exceed corporate social responsibility and sustainability objectives, providing opportunities to market their products as sustainable and environmentally-friendly.
Mass Customisation Opportunities
Prototyping with digital software can provide countless mass customization opportunities at low cost. Similarly, such software helps create complex shapes during the prototyping stage.
Unlike traditional production methods, traditional production methods can achieve economies of scale and low cost only when purchasing supplies in batches, while additive manufacturing provides the opportunity for personalized design during production, thereby saving production time and costs .
Personalization has become one of the main trends affecting the development of the retail industry in the 21st century. Mass customization has brought opportunities for brands to increase sales and expand profit margins.
Reduction in Overall Production Costs and Increase in Profit Margin
Finally, all the benefits outlined above translate to increased profits for businesses. The additive nature of 3D printing results in zero resource wastage, and more importantly, zero sunk costs in terms of wasted resources.
Optimized design and production processes across various players in the supply chain reduce the time needed to bring products to the market. Coupled with sustainable marketing campaigns and mass customization opportunities, all these advantages lead to an increased possibility of potential sales.
Additive manufacturing leads to reduced operating costs and increased revenue, therefore expanding overall profit margins for businesses.
Limitations of 3D printing
Although 3D printing apparel brings a brand-new apparel production mode and has the ability to turn any arrogant apparel design drawings into finished products, the current application is still niche. If you want to make 3D printing truly in the apparel industry to show their talents, there are still many difficulties to overcome.
At present, 3D printing is not fully suitable for garment production. In the field of custom clothing, 3D printing technology allows clothing to present special visual effects, and saves the cost of manpower and production time. However, the price of such clothing is comparable to that of ordinary custom clothing, not everyone can afford it, and it has lost the meaning of originally expecting to save costs by 3D printing.
In addition, after finishing the product according to the wearer’s body shape, its size cannot be modified. In other words, when the customer has a change in body shape, such as gaining weight or becoming thinner, the clothes are useless.
In addition to the shape, clothes are a commodity that depends on human feelings. When the comfort of 3D printed garments is no match for natural garments, consumer acceptance determines their survival rate in the market. Materials have become a major obstacle to the application of 3D printing in the apparel industry. Not all materials can be used in 3D printing technology, and only by finding the right materials can the real demands of use be achieved. In order to overcome the physical characteristics of each material in the printing process, a high research cost is required.
When 3D printing is mature enough to cope with a large number of manufacturing needs, the fashion industry is bound to face other problems. For example, 3D printing can overcome the technology that cannot be done by hand, and relatively speaking, there is also a potential risk of replacing the value of traditional craftsmen. For many brands that advertise fine craftsmanship, if traditional apparel craftsmanship loses the admiration of consumers, then the top boutiques will also lose its value invisible.