This translation has been automatically generated and has not been verified for accuracy.There are a lot of hyped-up threats and promises circulating these days about the potential impacts of 3-D printing. But the impacts are not as decisive as they may seem.
Meanwhile, the Harvard Business Review has called 3-D printing a revolution at its tipping point, a technology that confronts businesses with strategic questions. A 2015 article “confidently expects” fully automated large-scale printing systems will exist within five years. That day has not yet arrived.
The hearing-aid industry stands as a rare exception, quickly adopting 3-D to replace the moulded shells that carry their tiny electronic components. But even though some mould makers are out of a job, most workers in the industry are still there, while others have been added. Audiologists still test patients’ hearing. Technicians still fit the devices for each patient.
The shell might be cheaper to make, but it might not. The labour cost saved from manual mould-making can be entirely offset by the high cost of printers, scanners and software. There is no doubt that printed parts are better in some ways, such as accuracy and rapid design, but none of this is revolutionary. A 3-D printed shell has virtually no effect on the rest of the phone compared with a shell that was moulded or stamped in the traditional way.
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