Giving thanks for additive manufacturing

Many additive manufacturers have stepped up during the pandemic and 3D-printed PPE, like this respirator hood.

Looking back at our recent Thanksgiving celebration—such as it was—most of us would agree that 2020 gave us little to be thankful for. Social unrest, political division, high unemployment, and long food lines are but a few of the challenges we will be glad to put in our collective rearview mirror.

The worst thing, however—and the root cause of this year’s overall suckiness—is the nasty, unpredictable virus that’s just lethal enough to make us worry about getting sick but not so much as to ease the second guessing over mask-wearing, holiday visits, and daily interactions with friends and loved ones. That’s what has kept most of us awake at night these past months.

I say “most of us” because mask-wearing and other topics of debate have proven to be contentious. I’m unsure why, but given our country’s current level of polarization I won’t share my viewpoints on any of them more than I already have, lest my inbox fill with unpleasant email.

I will, however, share one thing I’m thankful for: 3D printing. Whether you’re a mask-wearer or not, regardless of whom you voted for, or believe that black, blue, or all lives matter, we should be grateful for the manner in which the manufacturing community stepped up to the plate during the pandemic.

In most instances, 3D printing played a key role. Here are a few examples drawn from just the articles I wrote this year for The Additive Report:

• Bespoke footwear manufacturer Superfeet Worldwide of Washington state transitioned its line of HP Multi Jet Fusion printers to the production of PAPR (powered air-purifying respirator) hoods for frontline workers in less than a week.

• Idaho-based desktop printer manufacturer and service bureau Slant 3D turned its printing farm loose making face shields, then distributed 15,000 complete sets to hospitals and other medical facilities across the country.

• 3D Systems Inc. shared multiple COVID-19 success stories, including its development of a custom nasal swab made of medical-grade material that can be mass-produced on the company’s Figure 4 system.

There’s more. Canadian company InkSmith enlisted more than 2,000 makers to 3D-print PPE for that country’s healthcare workers.

And Jim Dillon of Innovative Technical Resource Group in New York state printed dozens of face masks for an area hospital, paying for the materials out of his own pocket.

And, as I mentioned, those are just the stories that I wrote for Additive Report. Editor-in-Chief Don Nelson and other members of the AR team shared similar stories, each illustrating the fact that manufacturers are among the first to come forward in times of need.

Fortunately, they now have a technology that helps them do so more quickly. It’s called 3D printing, and, for that, I am thankful.