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Tyler Troha

Nancy LaFever

WRD 104-203

1/21/2013

3D- Printing, Todays Tomorrow


Imagine your steaming across the Pacific Ocean on a container ship headed

for the San Francisco bay with thousands of containers of goods and products on

board. You have been as sea for weeks pushing the boat to it limits to make sure the

shipment arrives on time, when all of a sudden the motors die and your dead in the

water but the part you need isnt on board. So the engineer on board goes to the

boats on board computer and begins to print the part needed off of a 3D-Printer.

Before you know it you back under power headed to San Francisco to make the

delivery on time(Lipson, Melba 104). Many are referring to 3D-Printing as todays

tomorrow. With this new fascinating technology being readily available to everyday

consumers, the world is being turned upside down. There are many questions and

concerns being raised by people around the world. The biggest question and

concern is how will 3D-Printing change the manufacturing industry and will it bring

economic boom or bust? 3D-Printing also raises ethical concerns because of its

ability to replicate and produce things that should never be reproduced such as

weapons, keys and one of a kind artifacts just to name a few. This may create many

problems with copyright laws and may even be considered a fraud issue in the

future. Although 3D-Printing has boosted the manufacturing industry, it seems to be


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creating many negative applications throughout the economy and law enforcement.

When 3D-Printing was first invented, only the big engineering companies

could get their hands on the technology and they would use it to build prototypes

and test out new products. Like all technology, over time it becomes available to the

common consumer. With this major advancement in printing, the manufacturing

world is being turned upside down. Many economists are saying that this great

advancement in printing technology could remake the manufacturing industry

(Davidson). Like all great things there are positive and negatives. A positive

outcome would be that 3D-Printing creates minimalist factories that will pave the

way for the latest chapter of the industrial revolution (Davidson). The current trend

to replace the traditional style factory to one that exemplifies a minimalist factory is

the latest trend in the U.S industrial revolution. The minimalist factories are made

possible by replacing many workers with one machine, and that machine is the 3D-

Printer. With 3D-Printing the U.S can gain a slight edge, jobs will slowly start to

return back from overseas and the economy will then prosper creating a large

positive domino affect. This new printing technology has already shown an increase

in manufacturing revenue (Katel). A USA Today article reports that part production

made up nearly a quarter of the $1.7 Billion in sales of 3D-Printing products and

services last year(Davidson). This is astounding progress for a technology that has

only been available for the common user for a little under two years.

Within those two years 3D-Printing has showed great promise and is picking

up steam by creating ten major trends for the future. They range from 3D-Printing



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becoming industrial strength to being used by children in schools as the new form of

class projects (Network). The future holds great promise for 3D-Printing, providing

a huge increase in the quickness with product innovation. Having this increase will

open the doors for this technology to become industrial strength. Many companies

will adapt this new form of printing to help produce products in house that were

once only produced over seas. The medical fields will begin to have bone implants,

prosthetics and orthodontic devices printed to help build a perfect custom match for

the recipient (Network). With many people today wanting to have one of a kind

products, 3D-Printing will make customization a norm in todays society. Many

companies will gain a competitive advantage by offering customization at the same

price as their competitors helping boost the economy through the art of competition

(Anderson 234). Customization will spread to markets that could never be

customized before sparking new business models built around the 3D-Printing.

There will the companies who specialize in the industrial industry with automobile,

airplanes, building equipment and tools to the 3D-Printer shops at the mall where a

student might print out their school project leaving the diorama as a thing in the

past. A very wide market will have easy access to this printing technology creating

an upward economic swing in manufacturing.

When it comes to the world of business its all about keeping profits high

while keeping expenses and overhead low. The constant rapid growth in business

and technology is pushing manufacturing in a whole new direction (Lipson, Melba).

Lipson and Melba raised the question with this change in both the business model



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and the flow of manufacturing is 3D-Printing going to be beneficial to the economy

(13)? So with many manufacturing companies looking at adopting the new change

creating a minimalist factory many people want to argue that with these printers the

U.S factory worker will be no more (Katel). So yes, some jobs may be lost but in the

grand scheme of things the printers cannot, at the end of the day, do all the simple

tasks that a human is needed to do in a factory setting. So between the growing

number of 3D-Printing factories popping up and for the amount workers needed to

watch over and repair the printers, there will not be a huge sudden decrease in

factory worker demand, they will simply have to adjust to the changes.

With the internet being so prevalent in everyday life, the ability to access

information is easier than ever before. With this ability to easily access

information it is creating a heated debate on who owns the rights to products

(Anderson 203). As manufacturers and designers start to grapple with the prospect

of their copyright designs being replicated easily on 3D-Printers, there will be high-

profile tests cases over the intellectual property of physical objects designs

(Anderson 203). Just like file sharing in the online music industry, 3D-Printing is

using many websites that allow people to print anything with a click of a button.

This is allowing, what many call, the dark side of 3D-Printing to cause a stir and

raise eyebrows to what can actually be made in the privacy of someones home.

Unfortunately criminals are able to get their hands on this new technology and are

creating new issues that law enforcement will have to combat raising the question

as to how beneficial 3D-Priniting will really be for the world. (Katel).



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There are three major issues that have been up for discussion about the dark

side of 3D-Printing. The first issue that is making news around the world is the

ability to make a gun; with the issue of gun control always at center stage in

congress many people are concerned about this technology getting in the wrong

hands (Bilton). In recent news there has been two stories of two individuals making

a 3D gun. The first individual built a lower receiver for an AR-15 rifle (Katel). He

then replaced the actual receiver with the one from the 3D-Printer and was able to

fire the weapon multiple times. The second individual is a University of Texas Law

student, is currently designing a weapon to be printed entirely on a 3D-Printer

(Bilton). Many people have made parts for weapons but no individual has printed a

completely functional gun from a 3D-Printer yet. If the University of Texas student is

to succeed, he will create another large loophole in the creating and selling aspects

of illegal guns.

The next issue with 3D-Printing is the ability for an individual to replicate

any product he or she would like. With many websites like Thingiverse.com, which

allows anyone to obtain diagrams for printing a number of objects, the word

copyright seems to no longer apply (Awada). These websites support the idea of

being able to share, on the internet, certain products that an individual with a 3D-

Printer can download and print from the comfort of their home. Having the ability to

easily access so many different diagrams has helped many criminals create products

that are not beneficial to society causing a concern with consumer safety and quality

control (Weinberg). A man in Germany is making news for his recent production of a



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key for a set of handcuffs(Awada). The German man by the name of Ray was able

to obtain a key off eBay and then replicate it so it was an identical match to the

original (Awada). He then showed law enforcement that the key he made was able

to unlock the handcuffs that are supposed to lock up some of the worlds most

dangerous criminals. Hopefully with law enforcement seeing the large loophole with

keys for their handcuffs they can prevent future issues with prisoners trying to

escape and beat the system.

The third issue of 3D-Printing and copyrighting is the issue of

fraud. 3D-Printing has inspired a new movement when it comes to fraud. ATM

skimming is the newest way to get peoples information to their bank accounts

(Katel). It begins by creating an object on a 3D-Printer that attaches to an ATM

machine. The criminal places the device he or she made where the unknowing

persons slide their card so they can retrieve money from their bank account

(Awanda). After multiple people swipe their cards, their bank account information

has now been stolen. 3D-Printing is making this form of fraud more difficult to

detect than ever. In fact, a group of men were arrested for steeling over $400

thousand dollars over a two-year period using a $10,000 3D printer (Katel). ATM

skimming is allowing 3D-Printing technology to become more mainstream and

skimming is trickling down to other places such as gas stations and vending

machines. Its definitely something that law enforcement needs to keep an eye out

moving forward.

If you can imagine it, you can make it. 3D-Printers are the ultimate



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prototyping tool and are the fastest way to turn something from bites on a computer

screen to atoms that are a printed product in your hand. Although 3D-Printing has

boosted the manufacturing industry is seems to be creating many negative affects

throughout the economy and law enforcement in the early stages of this technology.

While the thought of everyone being able to have a 3D-Printer in their home or

office is one of great excitement, there are also many dark areas that are exposed

with this technology and are becoming more and more prevalent each and every

day. Companies will be given the ability to explore and build products never

dreamed of before to help boost the manufacturing and many other industries. They

will able to make advancements in many great medical products and spark new

inventions that can hopefully benefit people in magnificent ways. But many

criminals will exploit this technology, simply by purchasing the printer, creating an

extremely easy way to make fraudulent keys, replicated one of a kind artifacts and

produce weapons allowing them to either hurt or negatively affect others from the

click of a mouse. This will cause a ripple effect in society and may cause a negative

vibe especially with all the horrible events that seem to be taking place on a regular

basis in our country today.













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Works Cited


Anderson, Chris. Makes: The New Industrial Revolution. 1st ed. New York:
Crown Group, 2012. Print.

Awada, Mike. "The Dark Side of 3D Printing | 303 Magazine." 303 Magazine.
N.p., 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.

Bilton, Nick. "Disruptions: With a 3-D Printer, Building a Gun With the Push
of a Button." New York Times, 08 Oct. 2012. Web. 09 Feb. 2013.

Davidson, Paul. "3-D Printing Could Remake U.S. Manufacturing." USA Today,
7 Oct. 2012. Web.

Lipson, Hod, and Melba, Kurman. "Factory @ Home: The Emerging Economy
of Personal Fabrication." Http://web.mae.cornell.edu. N.p., 10 Dec. 2012.
Web. 16 Jan. 2013.

Lipson, Hod, and Melba Kurman. Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing.
Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2012. Print.

Katel, Peter. "3D Printing." CQ Researcher 7 Dec. 2012: 1037-60. Web. 26 Jan.
2013.

Network, CIO. "Manufacturing The Future: 10 Trends To Come In 3D
Printing." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 07 Dec. 2012. Web. 27 Feb. 2013.

Vance, Ashlee. "3-D Printing Spurs a Manufacturing Revolution." The New
York Times. N.p., 13 Sept. 2010. Web.

Weinberg, Michael. 3D printing: It will be awesome if they dont screw it
up. From Public Knowledge blog. Posted November 10, 2010.