3D printing for companies: what is more economical, having an in-house 3D printer or using external 3D printing services?

Maria Burkanova | 20. March 2020

More and more industrial companies are discovering the utility of 3D printing and additive manufacturing (in technical terms, 3D printing is actually only one of many additive processes, but in common terms is used as a synonym for additive manufacturing). The range of machines, materials, and processes on offer is vast – but where should you start?

Additive manufacturing processes were developed back in the 1980s and have been among some companies’ routine manufacturing processes for many years, but only a wide variety of usable materials established 3D printing throughout industry.  

Who benefits from industrial 3D printing?

• Repair benefits from fast, independent procurement
• Design and development accelerate product development cycles with rapid prototyping – prototypes can be tested and adjusted much faster and cost much less to manufacture than milled parts, for instance.
• Manufacture can produce small volumes of components much faster and at much less cost while reducing material waste.

What challenges are associated with 3D printing for manufacturing companies?

The benefits are obvious, but there are still numerous companies that have not yet or not efficiently integrated 3D printing into their production processes. The most common reason for this is the lack of experts that can perform 3D printing properly. Depending on material, complexity, and the additive process in question, 3D printing engineers must be able not only to operate the machines, but also handle CAD design, material properties, mechanics and rework.

Procurement of an industrial 3D printer is also very expensive and may require special physical spaces and corresponding infrastructure and software licenses – all this is part of the investment the return must cover.  

Although additive manufacturing technologies offer savings in time and money and unprecedented innovation potential – new materials can be used, almost all geometric limitations have been removed from old materials and materials can be combined – many engineers do not have the requisite experience and do not trust the reliability and economy of the new technologies and materials.

One way of finding out whether there are additive manufacturing solutions for your company that will pay, and which solutions they are, is 3D printing services. Anyone who thinks of service providers printing colourful figurines, mobile phone cases and keychains is not wrong, but misjudges the now established 3D printing service providers, who have specifically geared themselves to the needs of industry. Plastic, metal, nylon and even wood – the selection of materials that can be used in 3D printing is growing almost by the day, as is the selection of associated industrial applications. Order and delivery are generally quick and simple – most services offer the option of uploading 3D models and ordering directly. Delivery is usually within a few days.  

3D printing or 3D printing service?

Not every company that benefits from 3D printing would also benefit from having a 3D printer. What criteria are decisive?

Costs:

A 3D printing service allows you to forego the costs of procuring your own industrial 3D printer, storing materials, and hiring an in-house expert, and the time production takes. Another advantage of cooperation with an external 3D printing service is the clear cost structure: the costs of 3D printing services can be determined easily and precisely ahead of time, facilitating budget planning. Billing is quick and easy, saving time and money which can be invested in other projects.

However, if a decisive part of manufacture is to be with 3D printing so as to cover the needs of a specific process, procurement of a printer will pay off in the long run.  

Quality and speed:

3D printing service providers have great capacity in terms of machines and specialised personnel, and they work fast and deliver good results thanks to their extensive experience. Prototypes and small volumes can be produced especially quickly and easily when online orders are placed.

Of course, no delivery service is as fast as your own on-site printer – if it is important to have parts in hand especially quickly, it is a good idea to have your own printer. You will also need an in-house expert who is familiar with the materials and can handle the machine – otherwise parts may be substandard and the production process will take much longer.

Personnel and expertise:

Many innovative engineers are enthused about the opportunities presented by 3D printing and pursue the skill in their free time as well. But many places suffer from a lack of trained personnel and especially of experience with additive manufacture. 3D printing experts are hard to find – but service providers specialised in 3D printing focus on just such specialists. Thanks to the many different customer orders, 3D printing service providers have a broader range of experience. Owning machines requires having in-house specialists that must receive targeted training.

If such an expert is available, he or she can focus much more on optimising processes and products and remain in direct communication with the rest of the team.

Flexibility:

3D printing services are equipped with a number of different machines, so they can cover a range of printing processes and materials. Starting with the application needed, they can advise on design and the selection of process and material offer various solutions as prototypes – until the optimal result is achieved. Companies that have only one or two machines of their own for additive manufacture cannot do this. But it is much faster and simpler to make changes to printed models, test them on site, and discuss them with the team. This is ideal for fast-moving repetitive processes.

Order volume:

If individual components or replacement parts need to be manufactured in an additive process only occasionally (or even only once), it is obvious that 3D printing services is the answer. If the required part is manufactured in a laser sintering process, for instance, there may be additional costs for an in-house machine if quantities are low. A professional printing service can manufacture large batches of parts for different customers in a single run, greatly reducing the price of individual parts. If large quantities of 3D printed parts are needed in a short time, an external service provider is also the better choice, since they are likely to have more machines available.

Reworking: 

If printed parts are to be installed in in-house machines immediately, or if the mechanical properties are what counts (not aesthetics or haptics) rework is often unnecessary. But if the surface finish requires certain properties, such as smoothness or a specific colour, 3D printed parts must be reworked. This is also the case if there are subsequent mechanical adjustments. Depending on the type of rework necessary, the manual effort involved can be very high and require separate systems (colouring is an example of this). Here, too, unique cases and irregular demand usually mean that 3D printing is a good idea. But if the part needs to be reworked and tested immediately (or even used immediately), the quick availability of an in-house printer may be advantageous. 

Combine the advantages of 3D printers and 3D printing services

Before a company procures its own 3D printer, it should have several 3D models printed by different external providers using different processes in order to assess the suitability of the results to the application.

If the company determines that it needs its own printer and procures one, this doesn’t mean that it must limit itself to a single manufacturing process and one material – of course it can continue to use the range of options that 3D printing services offer. Depending on the order situation, these services may even be more economical despite the company’s printer – for instance, the costs for an SLS machine that is not used to capacity are frequently higher than those of an externally ordered, urgently needed individual part.

3D printing at igus – how we can help

3D printing is an important item at igus, too: our in-house 3D printing service prints wear-resistant parts made of proven iglidur high-performance polymers. Unlike usual 3D printing plastics, they are especially well suited to moving industrial applications, since parts made of our filaments and laser sintering powder are low-friction, self-lubricating and abrasion-resistant. Because we offer both laser sintering powder and filaments in our online shop, they can be used in our customers’ own printers as long as they are suited to such use (see processing instructions for the individual products).