The Global Rise of 3D Printing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

With the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020 a shortage of components across multiple fields ensued.  These shortages particularly hit hard automotive facilities, hospitals, and health systems across the world. In some areas there just was not enough equipment to go around.  In other areas, equipment just was not getting to the places it was needed.

In response to these shortages, many companies turned to the flexibility and ease of 3D printing technology to overcome the shortage in needed parts and components.  3D printing is on-demand solution that supports a wide spectrum of needs ranging from personal protection equipment to medical devices for isolation wards to a much broader portfolio of industry products. This versatile technology is suited to address supply-demand imbalances caused by socio-economic trends and disruptions in supply chains.

Companies that Have Applied 3D Printing to Production Processes:

1. RELATS, S.A.:

As part of its social commitment to aid in the fight against COVID-19, Relats Group is manufacturing parts using 3D printing of PPE’s and do produce spare parts for respirators.

2. Accurate Manufactured Products Group:

To protect AMPG staff during the shortage of PPE, AMPG used 3D-printing for custom-designed face shields for employees.  The AMPG face shields are designed with an adjustable strap to fit each employee’s head. Additional padding was also added to the interior of each shield to ensure maximum comfort.

3. Bezares SA:

As part of a larger collaboration to improve health professional working conditions, Bezares SA aided in the supply of protection screens.  These protection screens are were created through 3D printing .  Using the machinery that was responsible for manufacturing the prototypes of new products, Bezares 3D printed a PVC screen that creates a barrier against solid particles to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

4. Stratasys:

Due to the dire global shortage of shields to protect the medical community, law enforcement professionals, and industries,  Stratasys is rapidly scaled its efforts to print both re-usable and disposable face shields on dozens of FDM 3D printers located in Texas, California, and Minnesota.

5. ENGMAN-TAYLOR:

In 2020, Engman-Taylor stated that it remains committed to health and helping others reduce cost. With that, they began processing orders and shipments through the use of 3D printing to build and ship parts as normal.

How SiliconExpert is Aiding in the Battle Against Coronavirus:

SiliconExpert is a part of the world’s community and is committed to collaborate in the fight against the coronavirus.  SiliconExpert has the data and expertise to help gain an in-depth look into the suppliers’ newly introduced products, their lifecycle status, finding alternatives, and available inventory from authorized distributors.

Also, in response to a need for insights and forecasted impacts, SiliconExpert quickly developed a support mechanism that can help customers identify risks in their supply chain. This service combines factors of geo-location and known risks in a proprietary formula to determine the overall supply chain risk score by the supplier and by part number. This service gives insight as it relates to this event as well as data that can help teams proactively mitigate impacts of future events through our supply chain module.

Also, SiliconExpert recently added 3D Printers to our database to align new technology trends.  We now collect count of part numbers of 3D printers from the different companies in this field.

 See how it works

For more please visit:

• https://download.siliconexpert.com/pdfs2/2020/4/2/13/4/25/129927/engman_/manual/pgurl_1978696219739879.pdf
• https://www.zdnet.com/article/coronavirus-and-3d-printing-how-makers-are-stepping-up-to-supply-vital-medical-kit/
• https://download.siliconexpert.com/pdfs2/2020/3/27/16/2/46/266547/memse_/manual/qw22.pdf

By Ahmed Sabry