Comments for Print3D Blog http://www.print3dblog.com Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:46:00 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 Comment on 3D Printing by al dean http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/print3dblogcomments/~3/kEFfs9t48NM/ al dean Wed, 14 Jan 2009 21:46:00 +0000 http://www.print3dblog.com/?p=10#comment-1 Clarity is something that's missing from the RP industry, from the CAD industry. What tech companies tend to do is obfuscate what they're trying to do, by making up new names, new terms, new abbreiviations. What should be the concentration is the process, the task. You don't CAD, you design, you don't additively fabricate, you print.. in 3D. <br/><br/>When I'm discussing these systems and processes, I use two terms and the differentiation is key.<br/><br/>3d printing<br/>Direct manufacturing<br/><br/>Why?<br/><br/>The reason is that its about the end result, not the process, the vendor or otherwise. I use 3d printing as the general term for everything.<br/><br/>Direct Manufacturing I use when referring to using any of the systems to build end-use parts. But this will end soon. 3D printing is the perfect term. Why use anything else?<br/><br/>With vendor's trying to differentiate what they do, they confuse things horribly. Additive fabrication, direct digital manufacturing, e-manufacturing - its all nonsense.<br/><br/>The 3D printing term has gained ground because the interest in these systems has spread far and wide beyond where we were just 5 years ago.<br/><br/>Its gaining traction and interest by the general public rather than the design and engineering world and that will lead how these systems are referred to from now on.<br/><br/>Al @ develop3d.com Clarity is something that’s missing from the RP industry, from the CAD industry. What tech companies tend to do is obfuscate what they’re trying to do, by making up new names, new terms, new abbreiviations. What should be the concentration is the process, the task. You don’t CAD, you design, you don’t additively fabricate, you print.. in 3D.

When I’m discussing these systems and processes, I use two terms and the differentiation is key.

3d printing
Direct manufacturing

Why?

The reason is that its about the end result, not the process, the vendor or otherwise. I use 3d printing as the general term for everything.

Direct Manufacturing I use when referring to using any of the systems to build end-use parts. But this will end soon. 3D printing is the perfect term. Why use anything else?

With vendor’s trying to differentiate what they do, they confuse things horribly. Additive fabrication, direct digital manufacturing, e-manufacturing – its all nonsense.

The 3D printing term has gained ground because the interest in these systems has spread far and wide beyond where we were just 5 years ago.

Its gaining traction and interest by the general public rather than the design and engineering world and that will lead how these systems are referred to from now on.

Al @ develop3d.com

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