International Journal of Advanced Robotics
and Automation

In this article, a new supply chain for manufacturing from design to delivery is presented. An open-source protocol and collection of smart contracts called 3D-Chain is introduced by authors to become an ecosystem for manufacturers, designers and customers. Within this framework, the 3D Printing and fabrication technologies become a global common infrastructure for all and anyone can access 3D Printing network or become a stakeholder in its development.

Supporting software infrastructure for sustainable merge of 3D Printing into a new decentralized manufacturing market, bringing the value of new technologies to accelerate the innovation, addressing cross-functional components in manufacturing and design (designer, manufacturer, customer, researcher, supplier, and …) to develop a programmatic approach for supply chain, decentralizing and adapting production and service against the needs of customers, and unlocking mass customization are 3D-Chain’s objectives.

Manufacturing is a critical contributor to productivity, innovation, and trade. Time of big growth always has been supported by manufacturing revolutions (Steam engine, mass production, and automation). In advanced economies, a shrinking manufacturing sector is seen as evidence of decline in growth and in developing countries; manufacturing is the engine of development. Productivity is the core of manufacturing and it must be sustainable to serve the growth in long term.

Today, the global manufacturing is facing a fierce competition over every scrap of market share and we can see rates of economic growth in major economic blocks are declining (Figure 1). Neither building factories offshore to take advantage of the cheap labor nor expanding factories are the answer to this.

Manufacturers plan to make significant and often fundamental changes to their business to drive future growth. However, Limited baseline growth is expected in most manufacturing markets. Forward-thinking players will need to sense and anticipate the future and create an adaptive response (e.g. digitization of manufacturing sector [2]).

3D Printing also known as Additive Manufacturing (AM) creates physical objects from a digital file using layer upon layer printing approach. Figure 2 shows the process which starts with modeling the object that can be of almost any geometry. At second level, the 3D model was processed and sliced in layers. Finally, the object was fabricated through laying down material layer by layer.

For manufacturers, 3D Printing is not the future, it is a production method like any other. A survey shows manufacturers consider additive manufacturing a vital part of their business operation and recognize an urgent need to increase their investment into innovation and R&D [3].

Global 3D printing market is driven by new innovations, optimization in printing performance, expanding application, and declining price. The global 3D Printing market is projected to reach USD 32.78 Billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate of 25.76% between 2017 and 2023 [4]. [Figure 3]

Prototyping and proof of concept are the leading use of 3D Printing. However, accelerating product development, product customization, and increase flexibility in production are the future priorities. 3D Printing industry’s segmentations are:

- Prototyping

- Service

- Industrial goods

•  Aerospace

Specialized components

Engine parts

•  Engineering

High Tech and electronics

•  Automotive

Engine production

Innovation and concept car

Customized body parts

- Medical

Dental industries

Orthopedic implants

Personalized prosthetics

- Consumer goods

Fashion accessory production

Custom jewelry

Apparel production

High performance goods

- Construction

Large scale fabrication

Concrete 3D Printing

The consumer electronics and automotive industries are earlyadopter of the additive manufacturing and contribute for more than 20% of the 3D Printing market. 3D Printing has generated positive results for the consumer electronics industry through developing prototype, increasing flexibility in new product, and designing concepts. The next big 3D printing opportunity for the consumer electronics industry is in smartphones, which comprise an estimated 35% of total consumer electronics sales. Medical device industry is the next biggest contributor in 3D Printing market (16%). Industrial Goods is also a very dynamic sector while service is a quite different market from other industries when it comes to 3D Printing.

Mainstream application of 3D Printing requires investment in tools and materials for any specific product. You need to have skills to design your idea, have right tools to develop a prototype, and be familiar with all the optimization tools that is needed to turn a 3D file into a physical object. Having luxury of enough time, enough money and right skills to go through the whole process is very rare. The main restrictions are:

Future growth in large scale 3D printing requires investing a lot of money or using external 3D printing services.

Plastic is the most common 3D printing material followed by resin. To 3D Print a product, specific material which satisfies the requirements is necessary. On the other hand, having access to a 3D Printer with special application is challenging.

There are several 3D printing technologies, each has different way to process input material and create a final product. Therefore, finding a manufacturing company to make the design compatible with required specifications demands lots of time and efforts.

The shift in global demand for 3D printed good requires very different service with different features and price points. Offering variety of designs while protecting copyright is challenging for designers and manufacturers. These questions arise in global 3D printing and design environment which is different from past with more complexity, uncertainty, and risk.

With manufacturing focused on adopting new technology, ensuring the supply chain is ready for growth is a priority. Currently, the commercial adoption of 3D Printing technology has been delayed by insufficient infrastructure.

Despite significant growth, there is a wealth of untapped potential in 3D Printing. What if we combine existing manufacturing process and innovation in technology sector to create next manufacturing invention, a productive environment that does complex non-repetitive tasks?

Blockchain technology gives manufacturing an opportunity to transform the supply chain into a decentralized environment to achieve a new level of productivity and efficiency. The only thing missing is a platform which enables secure and sustainable transactions.

We introduce 3D-Chain as a secure platform which uses greater intelligence in product design and manufacturing to boost resource efficiency and track activity by implementing blockchain technology. 3D-Chain introduces the first supply chain using cryptography for expansion of 3D Printing and automated fabrication technologies to consumer market (B2C) and industrial applications (B2B). 3D-Chain is a fully integrated system across the entire manufacturing industry, from the moment a design is developed by designer to the final delivery on the customer’s doorstep. It helps forward-thinking players to take advantage of blockchain technology for next generation of manufacturing.

3D-Chain is developed by authors and is highly focused on providing new growth opportunity for manufacturing market. Our goals are, increasing adaptation range of new technologies, saving cost, reducing the risk of faulty design, protecting copyright, and expanding customized design and fabrication using advantages of blockchain technology. In larger scale, global manufacturing which is linked in 3D-Chain platform based on cryptography, will be expanded to a more productive and decentralized scale, will create more jobs, and will result in economic growth (Figure 4).