The following appears on usatoday.com
SHANGHAI — Manufacturers hoping to use 3-D printing technology to slash labor costs and bring some production back to the U.S. from China didn’t foresee this: China is furiously developing its own 3-D printing industry.
3-D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is still in the early stages in China, and the world’s second-largest economy is far behind the U.S. But China has made significant strides this year in its effort to modernize its reputation as a center of cheap mass production. Some American industry officials say the U.S. should step up its investments to maintain its advantage.
Here at DF Robot’s production facility in the Zhangjiang Business Park, a roomful of humming 3-D printers and robots substitute for a traditional factory’s clanking presses and churning milling machines. One printer spews layer after layer of green molten plastic onto a canvas until an iPhone case takes shape in seven hours. Soon after, the versatile printer molds a pair of black high-heel shoes — a more complex task that takes 26 hours.
“Since 2012, we have seen a strong increase in demand for our printers,” says Ricky Ye, CEO and founder of DF Robot, which both manufactures printers and uses them to make product prototypes on a contract basis.
3-D printers look like document printers but crank out 3-dimensional objects. Based on a digital design, they lay down hundreds or thousands of layers of powdered metal or plastic until parts or entire products are sculpted.
Since the 1980s, U.S. manufacturers largely have used the printers to quickly create prototypes. In recent years, a growing number have turned out limited runs of actual products, such as surgical tools and medical implants, as well as certain parts in airplanes, cars and other machines. Entrepreneurs and hobbyists are also snapping up inexpensive “personal” printers to make jewelry, toys and other trinkets.
In China, 3-D printers are making prototypes and quirky objects for consumers but — apart from artificial teeth and dental implants — lag in end-user part production. That’s the more critical sector that has the potential to transform manufacturing.
Whether deployed in China or the U.S., 3-D printing can yield significant reductions in labor costs. Just a few employees oversee dozens of automatic printers, matching the production of several hundred or thousands of workers in standard factories.