We live in an age that is witness to what many are calling the Third Industrial Revolution: 3D printing, more professionally called additive manufacturing.
It has the potential to move us away from the era of mass production and bring us to a new reality of customisable, one-off production. 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the broader term for tool-less manufacturing methods which enables manufacturing of components from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to conventional manufacturing methodologies.
Recent successful examples, which have got considerably media coverage, have been the work showcased by Francis Bitonti/Michael Schmidt and Iris van Herpen at Paris Fashion Week.
Platform for business exchange: There is a need to create a B2B and B2C portal for designers to sell their 3D designs securely and also to act as a knowledge sharing platform for the industry to grow.
With a clarion call from our government for a ‘Make in India’ initiative, 3D printing technology is going to be one of the key areas the industry in India needs to understand and invest in. Since this technology is still in its very early stages, great results are to be expected.