How 3D printing fits into the digital thread, and the relationship between its uses for prototyping and for manufacturing, was the subject of a talk — More Than Prototyping: Digital Manufacturing’s Role in Industry 4.0 — by Proto Labs’ CTO Rich Baker at last week’s Design & Manufacturing Minneapolis .
In his talk, Baker discussed several topics, including the limitations of materials and 3D printing processes on the design and production cycle, use cases for 3D printing and additive manufacturing (AM), the opportunities and challenges of using these technologies for end-to-end production, and how these and other new technologies are driving shifts in system design methodology.