Life-Cycle Economic Analysis of Distributed Manufacturing with Open-Source 3-D Printers
Contents
Source
B.T. Wittbrodt, A.G. Glover, J. Laureto, G.C. Anzalone, D. Oppliger, J.L. Irwin, J.M. Pearce (2013), Life-cycle economic analysis of distributed manufacturing with open-source 3-D printers, Mechatronics, 2013 (in press). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mechatronics.2013.06.002
Highlights
- Open-source 3-D printers makes distributed manufacturing technically feasible.
- Self-replicating rapid prototypers (RepRaps) can manufacture half of their own parts.
- Life-cycle economic analysis of RepRap technology for US household provided.
- Open-source 3-D printers recover material costs in less than 1 year, >200% ROI
- Open-source designs growing exponentially predicts distributed manufacturing scaling.
Abstract
The recent development of open-source 3-D printers makes scaling of distributed additive-based manufacturing of high-value objects technically feasible and offers the potential for widespread proliferation of mechatronics education and participation. These self-replicating rapid prototypers (RepRaps) can manufacture approximately half of their own parts from sequential fused deposition of polymer feedstocks. RepRaps have been demonstrated for conventional prototyping and engineering, customizing scientific equipment, and appropriate technology-related manufacturing for sustainable development. However, in order for this technology to proliferate like 2-D electronic printers have, it must be economically viable for a typical household. This study reports on the life-cycle economic analysis (LCEA) of RepRap technology for an average US household. A new low-cost RepRap is described and the costs of materials and time to construct it are quantified. The economic costs of a selection of 20 open-source printable designs (representing less than 0.02% of those available), are typical of products that a household might purchase, are quantified for print time, energy, and filament consumption and compared to low and high Internet market prices for similar products without shipping costs. The results show that even making the extremely conservative assumption that the household would only use the printer to make the selected 20 products a year the avoided purchase cost savings would range from about $300 to $2000/year. Assuming the 25 h of necessary printing for the selected products is evenly distributed throughout the year these savings provide a simple payback time for the RepRap in 4 months to 2 years and provide an ROI between >200% and >40%. As both upgrades and the components that are most likely to wear out in the RepRap can be printed and thus the lifetime of the distributing manufacturing can be substantially increased the unavoidable conclusion from this study is that the RepRap is an economically attractive investment for the average US household already. It appears clear that as RepRaps improve in reliability, continue to decline in cost and both the number and assumed utility of open-source designs continues growing exponentially, open-source 3-D printers will become a mass-market mechatronic device.
See also
Press
- Make It Yourself and Save—a Lot—with 3D Printers - MTU News
- Study: At-home 3-D printing could save consumers 'thousands' - CNN
- Printing Keychains and Shower Heads: 3-D Printing Goes Beyond the Lab - ABC News
- A 3-D Printer Can Pay For Itself In Less Than A Year - Popular Science
- Study Finds 3D Printers Pay For Themselves In Under a Year - Slashdot
- Household 3D Printers Can Pay For Themselves in a Year - Gizmodo
- 3D printing at Michigan Tech- Prototype Today
- MTU Study: 3D printers may soon be in every home - 3Ders
- How to save money by making stuff with 3D printers - Kurzweil
- Study Finds 3D Printing Could Save The Average Home Up To $2,000 A Year - Techcrunch
- 3D printers can pay for themselves in under a year - Computer World
- Household 3D printers pay for themselves in short order - Boing Boing
- 3-D printing could save the average home up to $2,000 a year - MSN
- You Are Probably Underestimating The Value Of At-Home 3-D Printing - Fast Company
- 3D Printing at Home: Small Savings Will Add Up - Yahoo News
- Podcast #420 - August 3rd, 2013 -The Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe
- 10 household items that will be far, far cheaper with 3D printing Smart Planet
- Michigan Tech Study Says: “The RepRap is an economically attractive investment for the average U.S. household already” - 3D Printing Industry
- Print These 20 Things You Don't Really Need And Your 3-D Printer Pays For Itself - Co.Exist
- 3D printers pay for themselves in under a year, study finds - CBC
Spain
- Las impresoras 3D, rentables para sus usuarios - El Correo (Spanish for "The Courier") is the leading daily newspaper in Bilbao and the Basque Country of northern Spain. Its daily circulation, at ~100,000.
- Las impresoras 3D, rentables para sus usuarios - Que Es
- Las impresoras 3D, rentables para sus usuarios -ABC is a Spanish national daily newspaper - circulation >240,000, Sure es
- "Hágalo usted mismo": impresión 3D para fabricar en casa objetos cotidianos - Tendencias 21
Poland
- Drukarka 3D lepsza niż supermarket(3D Printer better than the supermarket) - Money.pl
- Drukarka 3D lepsza niż supermarket - Onet.pl (largest Polish webportal)
Japan
Hungary
Austria
- So viel Geld lässt sich mit 3D- Druckern sparen - Krone, is Austria's largest newspaper. According to a Österreichische Media-Analyse study, the average daily readership is 2,970,000.
Netherlands
- 3D-printer klaar voor grote doorbraak: de printer levert meer op dan deze kost - Scientias.nl
- En hjemme-3D-printer kan nu tjene sig selv hjem på et år - Politiken.dk (circulation ~100k)
Russia
- Домашний 3D-принтер окупается за 1 год - Habrahabr (blog)
UK
Norway
- Du kan spare tusenvis av kroner på 3D-skriving - Hardware.no
France
- Imprimantes 3D : rentables en moins d'un an La Tribune ( French financial newspaper circulation of ~78,000)
