The fourth industrial revolution, I believe many people who pay attention to current affairs and are in the industry know it: the fourth industrial revolution refers to the transformation of traditional manufacturing industry to intelligent direction based on physical information fusion technology and modern production equipment such as 3D printing and intelligent robots, and the gradual transformation of traditional large-scale labor and resource intensive industries to intelligent intensive direction, So as to establish an intelligent, flexible and efficient personalized and digital production and service mode. It is an industrial revolution dominated by intelligent control after mechanization, electrification and informatization.

Creative three emperors - industrial application is a must for 3D printing

3D printing can be traced back to the 1980s. Charles hull invented the technology of printing digital resources into three-dimensional models. After decades of development, 3D printing technology, as an emerging and mature technology, has gradually developed to all walks of life, especially in the industrial field. At present, 3D printing technology is mainly used in jewelry, clothing and footwear, industrial equipment, engineering construction, auto parts, aerospace, medical and other fields.

In the fourth industrial revolution, 3D printing is definitely one of the important technologies to promote its development. The technology of 3D printing is mainly to design the 3D model according to the needs of customers, then transfer the image information to the 3D printer terminal, control the printer to stack the materials layer by layer, and finally generate the products required by customers. From the perspective of the specific application of 3D printing technology in industrial production, whether it is to meet the needs of customers or the application of products in actual industrial production, it can achieve excellent integration with the development of intelligent industry, so as to play a key role in the process of industrial transformation and upgrading.

Between 2012 and 2016, the topic of 3D printing was very hot in various industries and on the Internet, but after that time, it suddenly disappeared like a flash in the pan. Many people think that 3D printing is just a commercial gimmick. Then, after the pandemic last year, 3D printing suddenly returned to the public's view. At this time, I realized that 3D printing has always been there, but it just began to develop into a broader and deeper industrial neighborhood. Some experts believe that 3D printing has a long way to go in the industrial field, while in the medical field, there will soon be applications and explosive points. For example, in the field of dental implant restoration, basically all can be replaced by 3D printing. But generally speaking, although 3D printing technology is widely used in industry, its overall scale is small.

This is mainly due to the low recognition and application of 3D printing technology in domestic industry. Most manufacturing enterprises have not accepted advanced manufacturing concepts such as "digital design" and "mass customized production". At the same time, the single cost of industrial 3D printing equipment is high, the scope and field of industrial application are also limited, and the application prospect needs to be further developed, The demand power for enterprises to purchase 3D printing equipment is insufficient.

At the current level of domestic industry, there are obviously contradictions between personalized customization and large-scale manufacturing. Industry 4.0, which is characterized by personalization, flexibility and the economy of large-scale manufacturing, is to make on-demand manufacturing on the premise of standardization and refinement, but it has not reached the level of standardization and refinement in China. Moreover, China's industry has not targeted lean and standardization for a long time. Now some products involved in 3D printing are also facing standardization problems.

Generally speaking, although the current 3D printing technology is revolutionary, it is still unable to replace the traditional mode for mass production. 3D printing has no advantage in this regard. 3D printing is to efficiently meet the complex personalized and customized needs, which are becoming more and more complex and rich.