Additive Manufacturing: Revolution or simple societal evolution?

After the steam engine, electricity and automation, the "robolution" is an industrial revolution that includes additive manufacturing. Working in a digital and virtual world, it is possible to attempt to go the other way by 3D printing and return to real (as opposed to virtual) matter. The centralizing concept of Industrie 4.0 corresponds to a new way of organizing means of production: the aim is to set up more flexible "smart factories", with greater adaptability in production and more efficient allocation of resources, thanks to digital technology.

It is characterized by the interconnection of machines and systems within production sites, but also between them and the outside world (customers, partners, other production sites). Through the use of the Internet of Things, cyber-physical systems and additive manufacturing, i.e. virtual networks used to control physical objects, this new way of producing is characterized by continuous and instantaneous communication between the various tools and workstations integrated into production and supply chains.

At the same time, hobbyists who define themselves as "makers" work with low-cost 3D machines and exploit open-source software: so anyone, with a good design, can use digital data to train themselves, to make/create an object. They are based on open-economy principles, relying on contributors who are not primarily looking for immediate profit, and participate, often via FabLabs, in informing the public and making 3D technologies more attractive.

3D printing thus fosters this cyberculture movement with its diverse social evolutions, while developing scientific, technological, commercial and social links, possibly conflicting and complicit, with the more traditional socio-economic circles of manufacturing. Thus, additive manufacturing is not limited to the enterprise; it has much wider fields of use and users. With this background in mind, it's interesting to find out why we've come to this point... and that's what this article is all about.