There’s a problem with 3D printing – What can you print? Is there a need? Is it going to prove a benefit?
As a result, 3D printing experts Materialise has launched its 3D Printing Barometer for ‘identifying the parts that can truly benefit from this technology’ – possibly because it’s aware that a lot of parts can benefit in some way, but also as it is an advocate of responsible uses.
The application, which works through a web browser or iPad app, tests different parts according to size, functionality, and series size, scoring the possible added benefit that 3D Printing would offer.
Will this encourage more responsible printing? Probably not, seeing as it’s promoting the various uses and is realistically a marketing tool showcasing the vast array of machines and materials Materialise can produce. Yet it might possibly lead to the innovative use of the technology by companies that wouldn’t have considered it before, which can’t be an entirely bad thing.
