Boeing sees the Future in 3D Printing

Boeing has been conducting research and development in the area of additive manufacturing since 1997, but the company wants to scale up its processes in the years ahead so it can use the technology to build larger, structural components that can be widely incorporated into military and commercial aircraft.

Boeing’s use of 3D printing may seem unconventional because of the growing attention on the technology’s consumer applications for things like toys, figurines and sculptures. But it’s not. 

Using 3D Printing would allow for material development and forming complex mechanisms and components directly from the computer, which reduces weight ans costs by unitization and structural efficiency. Also it significantly reduces the time between design and the actual manufacturing, which can usually take more than a year. The ability to make this process more dynamic gives designer the opportunity to test the prototypes and refine their designs much more rapidly than before