The Trend Towards 3D Printing in Manufacturing

In the manufacturing industry, one process that has been rising in use and in popularity is 3D printing.  Many articles have been written about the ease and quality of 3D printing, and here at Mid-West Screw Products we have looked more into the value of it, and when and where it can be best utilized.

One of the things we have found is that 3D printing and the creation of models is great for prototyping, but it may not be feasible in the real world for large production of parts.  When it comes to making an example of what a part should look like, a 3D produced part could be helpful to show an engineer, compared to a blueprint which can lead to confusion if any information is wrong on it.  With very sophisticated parts, a few options can be made easily utilizing 3D printing, which is not the case with regular machine work.

For large scale orders, machining still appears to be the better option for a variety of reasons.  Form, fit, and function are very important when it comes to production, and machining does a great job in these areas.  Very large orders also will take a long time to produce using 3D printing, making machining the better option when you have a client who requires a large amount of parts, and more than one production run.  Speed and accuracy are always important to customers when they make a part order, and machine production is still the best option to meet those requirements.

At Mid-West Screw we have been providing excellent customer service for our clients for over 71 years.  Our equipment is state of the art, and allows us to machine sophisticated parts to the customer’s specification.  Please contact us to learn more about how we can meet your manufacturing needs.