Now that much of$$ the hype around$3-$D printing has died downlong dashno more of that$2010$s$-$era talk about a Star$$ Trek$-$style replicator in every homelong dasha funny thing is happening to this technology.$$ It's becoming a widely$$ used, and in some respects quietly$$ revolutionary, update to the way that people manufacture and process things we rely on every daylong dashfrom cars to industrial machinery to$$ food. "What's more, the way this technology is being used could have implications for the shape of global supply chains to$$ come," writes$$ The Wall Street Journal.

Part $2$

$3-$D printing, also known as$$ "additive manufacturing," generally works by adding tiny layers of materiallong dashusually powdered metal or plasticlong dashone at a time to form an$$ item, and fusing them with binding$$ agents, lasers or other methods.$$ Thus, parts are$$ "grown" instead of$$ forged, cast,$$ molded, or machined as in traditional manufacturing. Just a decade$$ ago, this kind of manufacturing$$ was, with rare$$ exceptions, suitable only for creating prototypes.$$ What's different now is that newer technology lets these systems print objects strong enough to be used in finished productslong dashand relatively quickly.

Part $3$

$$Recently$,$ for$$ example, GM made$60,000$ weatherproof seals using$3-$D printing, in$$ plastic, rather than making them the$$ old$-$fashioned way, to make sure it could deliver its $2022$ Chevy Tahoe on time. BMW is making broad use of$3-$D$-$printed parts throughout its lineup. Mercury Marine is producing its newest$$ V$12,600-$horsepower outboard motor with$3-$D$-$printed molds.

Part $4$

$3-$D printing is making rapid inroads into conventional manufacturing all over the world.$$ Globally, the entire industrial$$ additive$-$manufacturing market grew to$$ $$13$ billion in$2022,$ from$$ $$5\mathrm{.}7$ billion in $2016.$ That growth should accelerate in the next $5$ years, with the size of the industry reaching$$ $$37$ billion by$2026,$ as industrial$3-$D printing displaces traditional mass manufacturing.

Part $5$

Companies can also use$3-$D printing to do away with some of their inventory of spare$$ parts, many of which can sit on warehouse shelves for years.$$ Both Caterpillar and Saudi$$ Aramco, for$$ example, are digitizing their libraries of old parts so that they can print them in$3-$D as$$ needed, when machines that may have working lives of decades break. During the$$ pandemic, Caterpillar began using some$3-$D printed$$ parts, made in the$$ U$.$S$.,$ in place of conventionally manufactured versions that had become difficult to import from India.

$$Source: The Wall Street Journal$($January $14-15,2023).$

Part $6$

Critical Thinking Questions

$1.$ Being able to produce via$3-$D printing on demand may be especially valuable for spare parts that are

A$.$

common.

B$.$

large.

C$.$

motorized.

D$.$

old.

E$.$

inexpensive.