Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Software
People often refer to 3D printing in terms of “The Third Industrial Revolution”, but there is
one factor that is more of a key ingredient in the ongoing transformation of manufacturing,
and that is the digitalization of the manufacturing process through software. Designs and
drawings being rendered digitally and easily distributed around the world, saved in the cloud
and downloaded for manufacturing-on-demand is the infrastructure of this revolution.
Sure, CAD programs have been around as long as there have been computers, but it is now,
when manufacturing “without molds” is taking place that it is reaching its full potential. 3D
printers on the other hand can be substituted today by CNC-mills, laser cutters and waterjet
cutters or in the future by production forms yet to be seen, as long as you produce the product
directly from the digital drawing. 3D printers are still in a shaky break-through phase, but
the software being used with the printers has been a success story already for a long time.
