With a 3D printer, you can design your own item, either it's a cellphone cover or a 3D model of yourself, even something only exists in your imagination. But a high precision 3D printer has more practical application.
Yao Junfeng is the general manager of a company which manufactures dental braces.
"Every patient needs to have 50 to 60 tooth braces and each brace has some tiny changes depending of the therapeutic process. 3D printer can develop a customized tooth brace for the patient. Compare to hand made mode which we use in the past, 3D printing is more efficient."
From car wheel band to shoe, to mask, it looks like the 3D printer can print almost everything. But it's not a solution for all sorts of production in this field.
Plus, the price of an industrial level 3D printer ranges from tens of thousand yuan to several million yuan, the printing material is also expensive and can not be recycled. These are the barriers which stalls China's developing its self patented 3D printer market.
Wang Xiangmin is the regional general manager of China of a 3D printer company.
"It's a very high-end market, either for the printing material, the equipment or the maintenance. Enterprises with limited capability can't afford to develop such high-tech printer."
So far, 3D printing is mostly used to make customized products. High precision and printing speed are its advantages. But the traditional way of using a mould is still more cost effective in mass production.
Currently, only a few Chinese companies are in the business of developing their own 3D printers but their capability is still very limited.
Kong Huawei, director of computer technology research institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences points out that manufacturers engaging in 3D printing business should integrate their resources.
"The best way is to develop a production circle within the current 3D printing field. For instance, companies engaging in the 3D printing field in China develop their own application market, the manufacturing, research and development team. Thus we can gain some competence in the international market."
For CRI, I am Li Dong.
