Blueprint for the futureA Digital Manufacturing Strategy for New Zealand

Smart Green Innovation

June 2014

Green Solutions 3Introduction 4What is 3D printing? 4Advantages of 3D printing 5Environmental benefits 7The future of 3D printing 7Challenges 8Economic benefits 8What are other countries doing? 9NZ’s opportunity 12Digital manufacturing in NZ? 13Conclusion 14

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This component of the Green Party’s plan for smart green innovation offers a proposal to help New Zealand embrace digital manufacturing; a blueprint for the future.

1. Develop a Digital Manufacturing Strategy• Develop a national digital manufacturing strategy with

Government departments, academia, business, unions, the maker community and the public,

• Establish a Digital Manufacturing Taskforce, to investigate the opportunity, identify any gaps or barriers, recommend how to encourage additive manufacturing, and investigate regulatory and intellectual property implications,

• Consider hosting a national conference to bring together stakeholders and experts to discuss the next steps for New Zealand, and engage the public through, for example, a series of regional workshops similar to the Australian ‘Factory of the Future’ series in 2010.

2. Support and develop• Consider the recommendations of the Digital

Manufacturing Taskforce, which may include:• establishing a National Digital Manufacturing Centre of

Research Excellence (CORE), • providing support funding for community-run digital

manufacturing workshops,• supporting and empowering universities to make their

equipment more widely available for community and commercial printing and prototyping.

3. Educate and empower• Investigate how to support schools to familiarise students

with digital manufacturing technologies,• Institute a 3D printing prize or scholarship for secondary and

tertiary students,• Work with tertiary education providers to ensure graduates

have the skills that industry needs.

The Green Party will:

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In recent years 3D printers have grabbed the headlines, and many commentators have noted that it is a potentially revolutionary technology. While various methods of 3D printing have existed for thirty years and long been used commercially for prototyping, it is only in the last few years that expiring patents and greater Internet access coupled with rapidly dropping costs have seen it expand from a handful of indus-tries and universities to homes, schools, and ‘maker/hacker’ spaces. It has seen phenome-nal growth with annual global sales up 28% in 2012 and a UK Government report predicting it could eventually become a $100 billion market by 2020, given the right tech-nological breakthroughs.1 Hod Lipson, an associate professor and the director of the Creative Machines Lab at Cornell University, said that “3-D printing is worming its way into almost every industry, from entertainment, to food, to bio and medical-applications.”2

3D printing is an exciting emerging digital manufacturing technology which has the potential to transform the global manufac-turing industry and economy, and deliver prosperity and jobs to countries like New Zealand. This paper looks at the state of the technology, its applications and ad-vantages; current worldwide trends; govern-ment, industry, and community initiatives; and the economic opportunities that 3D printingoffers.Inlightofthis,ananalysisisprovided of the state of 3D printing in New Zealand, along with a series of recommendations for the New Zealand Government.This paper argues New Zealand needs to start work on a national digital manufac-turing strategy and consider a number of practical steps such as developing a National Digital Manufacturing Centre of Research Excellence (CORE), encouraging Fab Labs or maker-spaces and fostering greater experi-mentation and familiarisation in the educational sector to make sure we maximise the economic opportunity.

Introduction - the digital manufacturing revolution

New Zealand is well placed to take advantage andbuildanicheinthisfieldbutwithothercountriesinvestingsignificantsumsindeveloping 3D printing we risk being left behind. 3D printing is something the New Zealand Government seriously needs to consider. The Economist says it may have as profound an impact on the world as the coming of the factory did.3 A recent report from the Atlantic Council asserts that 3D printing “has the potential to be as disruptive as the personal computer and the Internet.” A 2011 Australian Government commis-sioned report found that, “The future for additive manufacturing is bright. The overall economic impact of the technology is believed to be in the billions of dollars worldwide.”4

What is 3D printing?

While public awareness is relatively new, the technology which underpins 3D printing isoverthirtyyearsold:thefirstpublishedaccount of a printed solid model was made in1981.Theterm‘stereolithography’(definedas “system for generating three-dimensional objects by creating a cross-sectional pattern of the object to be formed) was patented in 1984.5

3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a process of creating three-dimensional objects in a variety of ma-terials using a computer-aided design (CAD) digitalfile.Otherdigitalmanufacturingtechnologies, including laser-cutting, CNC milling and digital textiles production, in-corporate elements similar to 3D printing and are considered digital manufacturing methods but for the purposes of this paper the focus is on 3D printing. Unlike traditional subtractive manufacturing processes that cut the desired object or part from a piece of material such as a block of wood or steel, or inject a substance like plastic into a mould,

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3D printing is an additive technology that builds the object ‘piece by piece’ from a digital design with an X-Y-Z axis printer.

A broad range of materials can be printed ranging from plastics, metals such as titanium, clay, concrete, chocolate and even living embryonic stem cells. Already devices exist that can print conductive materials, simple semi-conductors (for fully printed electronics), or bio-active materials.6 Its unique characteristics see it currently used as part of the manufacturing process in specialised industries such as aeronautics where Boeing uses it in jet engines and in Formula 1 racing cars. Its major current commercial use is rapid prototyping. 3D printing allows designers to rapidly and affordablyproduceaproducttotestortrialmodificationsonbeforeemployingtraditional manufacturing techniques on a finalproductversion.Theabilityforeachprinted product to be customisable sees it usedinanumberofsectorsfromfilmmaking; where Weta Workshops use it for prop making7 and in health care, for example in Siemens and Phonak’s hearing aids or Align Technology’s custom orthodontic braces.8

Due to the increased public awareness in the last decade, new 3D printing businesses such as printing bureaus Shapeways and the New Zealand company Ponoko, have emerged to cater to the growing demand. A thriving ‘maker’ community has built up around the world printing products in sheds, community ‘makerspaces’ and numerous MIT-inspired ‘Fab Labs.’

One reason for the recent uptake in 3D printers is the rapidly dropping cost of the printers themselves. Printing units range from less than a one thousand dollars to over a million dollars for the most advanced printers. Costs have dropped substantially and lower resolution printers are now similar to the price of paper printers twenty years ago,makingthemrelativelyaffordableforhouseholds. At the home or school level, popular brand Makerbot sells replicators within the range of $1500 to $3000 and self-built printers can cost less than $1000.

Writing in the New York Times blogger Nick Bilton points out that “the price of 3-D print-ers has also dropped sharply over the last two years, with machines that once cost $20,000, now at $1000 or less. That’s partly because Chinese companies are driving down prices.”9 Another driver of dropping prices is the expiration of patents (normally a length of twenty years) on original printer designs that has stimulated the growth of open source printers and designs such as the RepRap project devel-oped at the University of Bath in 2007. Increased competition and printer production is likely to see unit costs continue to drop in coming years, further aiding the uptake.

Advantages of 3D printing

3D printing has a number of advantages over traditional manufacturing techniques that is driving its growth. Printing ‘layer by layer’ allowsincrediblecomplexity,detailordifficultproduction, such as objects-within-objects that would be hard or impossible to achieve using traditional processes. Each printed object can be individualised for its intended use; for example, designing for customer preferences, or even coupled with scanning technologytoproduceaperfect-fittingprosthetic device. Instead of producing and assembling parts to build a device, 3D printing allows ‘one-build fabrication’ such as printing interlocking gears in one go saving time and costs. An assembly which comprises of multiple parts can be fabricated in one build, eliminating fasteners and more complicated assembly labour. More importantly, when the parts that go into that assembly are no longer needed, the costs of designing, fabricating, inspecting, documenting, and certifying them are also eliminated.

3D printing is seen as a ‘disruptive technology’ because it changes the way business is done. Traditional manufacturing businesses rely on developing a product, tooling-up,andproducingefficientlyusingeconomies of scale.

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Yet, the costs of 3D printing are the same for thefirstprintastheyareforthethousandth.Printedobjectscanbecustomisableoroffera wide variety of choice that would be pro-hibitivelyexpensiveifeachrequiredspecifictools or moulds to produce. As The Econo-mist says, “Three-dimensional printing makes it as cheap to create single items as it is to produce thousands and thus undermines economies of scale.”10

It also changes the speed of business. With a 3D scanner and 3D printer, a physical object could be emailed half way around the world almost as quickly and easily as the process of taking a photo in one location and emailing it to be printed in another.6 Current business models depend on inventory storage or just in time management, and 3D printing will allow some businesses to print on demand eliminating storage costs. Similarly 3Dprintingmaybenefitisolatedormobileoperationswherecarryingsparesisdifficultor expensive. Plumbers may for example print a needed part instead of carrying it or ordering and waiting for it to arrive. It is no surprise a 3D printer is due to join the International Space Station this year, and a host of applications for 3D printing in space are currently being explored.11

producers and consumers.’ 3D printing also moves some manufacturing away from heavily industrialised areas into homes and communities.

Benefits of 3D manufacturing

• Allows complexity at no extra cost • One-build fabrication• Speedofideadiffusion• Mass customisation• Produce close to demand• Decentralises production• Removes need to have large inventory of spares• Print instead of carrying parts• Small print runs equally economic• Safety• Environmentalbenefits

While cheaper, lower quality printers may not print to acceptable consumer quality they could still print a needed part for a toy or device or prototype an idea before printing on a higher-quality professional printer at a regional printing hub or through an online service like Ponoko. This would be similar to the way that some projects like books are still published on higher-quality printers de-spite ubiquitous desktop printers. Currently, Shapeways – the largest 3D printing company – operates a service where users canpickadesignonlineoruploadaCADfilewhich is printed centrally and delivered. It is feasible local print hubs will be established where a user can choose an object and have it printed at their local shop or delivered to them within hours. Some products and sectors will always be suited to large scale centralised production and distribution, but 3Dmanufacturingwillfindrapiduptakeamong innovative, complex, and small-run products. In terms of retailing, much like the slow demise of the large generic bookstore from the growth in e-books, we could see a changing pattern in retail from big box stores toward web services and local manufacturers who can print and courier in a single town or city.

Perhaps the most profound change is that 3D printing decentralises production and ideas from large companies with research units and factories, toward individuals and small businesses. If people can design and create, or download and print their own parts or products, the traditional manufacturing divide between producers and consumers merges towards more of a ‘pro-sumer economy’ where people are both

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Environmental benefits

School of Design built a solar-powered printer that used recycled paint as its sculpt-ing material, and the company Filabot sells a plastic recycling system that turns household waste into 3D printing material.

3D printing has many environmental benefitsintermsofefficientrawmaterialsuse; reducing waste and energy and reducing transport-related greenhouse gas emissions. The nature of additive manufacturing is that minimal raw materials are wasted unlike in subtractive manufacturing processes. The US Department of Energy reports “By eliminating production steps and using substantially less material, ‘additive’ processes could be able to reduce waste and save more than 50 percent of energy compared to today’s ‘subtractive’ manufacturing processes, and reduce material costs by up to 90 percent.”12

The global economic system uses huge amountsofrawmaterialsandfinishedproducts traverse the world on ships and planes, but 3D printing will allow more products to be produced where they are needed without the cost and greenhouse gas emissions from transport. Print runs can be calculated exactly and products can be produced on demand reducing wastage and storage costs. 3D printing may even challenge the current ‘throw away’ mindset. Until now, economic forces have seen it cheaper to throw away a cheap item ratherthanfixit.3Dprintingwillallowanewor replacement part to be printed at home or the local printing hub, saving a huge amount of products from the tip. Deloitte’s Duncan Stewart anticipates one of 3D printing’s most useful applications to be cranking out spare parts for appliance repair. He says, “Rather than carrying hundreds of parts, [re-pair workers will] have a printer in the back of the van, pay a $2 licensing fee, and your washingmachineisfixed.”13

While there is a range of materials than can be printed, ranging from plastics to metals, each with its own lifecycle environmental impact there is a potential for ‘green’ or biologically-based printing materials. There is also scope for extensive recycling of materials to use in printing, for example,students at Victoria University of Wellington’s

The future of 3D printing

3D printing will give rise to new businesses, new business models, and products we cannot yet anticipate. The Atlantic Council says it is on track to move beyond a mere emerging technology into a truly transfor-mative technology.8 Much like how MP3s changed the music industry, 3D printing and other digital manufacturing techniques can potentially change business models and systems.

As well as having an enormous impact on current supply and distribution models, 3D printing is already bringing about an attitudinal shift in production and design. Its advantages lie in producing unique products, rapidly prototyping ideas, and changing distribution models. Manufacturing limitations will be more due to the designers’ imagination and material science, not confinedbytechnicalcapability.3D printing will accelerate innovation. The ability to rapidly design, print, and test a prototype will radically change the speed at

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which products move, and will allow a popular idea to be spread almost immediately without waiting for the historic production line lag. The ability to rapidly prototypeanddiffuseanideaallowsfaster innovation and even international crowd-sourcing of designs to occur.

Challenges: Intellectual property questions & disputes

ADLAPiperlegalbriefingpapersays,“Justas the risk of digital copying had a profound transformativeeffectonthemarketsinmusic and video, the rise of 3D printing and 3D scanning is likely to do the same for the production and sale of physical objects.”6

The music and movie industries have responded to disruptive digital technologies with a punitive approach encouraging numerous governments, including New Zealand, to implement a 3-strikes punishment regime, but also have encouraged legal sharing through sites such as the iTunes store or streaming content providerslikeSpotifyorNetflix.Abalancewillneed to be struck so that 3D designers and producerscanprofitfromtheircreationsandinnovatorscanflourishwithouttheintellectu-al property (IP) regime stymying this nascent industry with punitive or cumbersome IP protection laws.

3D printing challenges existing intellectual property regimes of copyright and patent law. Confusion or prolonged legal wrangling over these issues may slow implementation and pose complex questions for law makers. Muchlikesharingmusicormoviefilesoverthe Internet, 3D printing allows a design to be shared and an object to be replicated the world over almost instantaneously. Coupled with a 3D scanner, it would be possible to scan and print an object such as a patented tool or an artistic object covered under copyright. Existing popular repositories of designssuchasShapewaysofferarapidlygrowing ‘library of things’ that people could print at home or have delivered from a printing hub.

There are many complex questions to be asked in the area of intellectual property givendifferencesinscope,applicationandlength of patent and copyright law and the practiseofuploadinganddownloadingfilesfrom the Internet to printers. For example if someone designs and prints a spare part to a broken object covered still within its patent term, would that be a breach? If someone printed a popular toy such as aspecificLegopiecedesign,wouldthisbeconsidered copying an artistic sculpture and therefore a breach of copyright? How will current copyright exemptions like those for purposes of criticism, or possible fair use provisions of parody or satire apply towards 3D printed objects?

How countries and the international community approach these issues will play a big role in 3D printing practices and uptake.

Economic opportunities

The 3D printing sector has seen large scale growth in recent years but from a low base. According to a recent study by the leading 3D printing industry analyst Wohlers Associates, it took the 3D printing industry 20 years to reach$1billioninsize,fiveyearstoreach$2billion and is estimated to double again in only two years.8 The report anticipates that the sale of additive manufacturing products and services will reach US$3.7 billion by 2015, rising to over US$10.8 billion by 2021. This estimate does not account for the value of all the parts being printed by the likes of Boeing

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and G.E. in aerospace, and other manufacturers in orthopaedics (hip replace-ments and the like) so the wider economic benefitsarelikelytobeconsiderablyhigher.A UK Government report predicted it could eventually become a $100 billion market by 2020 given the right technological breakthroughs.14

The Wohler report found that the market for 3D printing of all products and services worldwide grew 28.6% in 2012, outstripping the 25.4% growth rate of the industry over the past 25 years. Looking at the low-cost (under $5,000) “personal” 3D printer market segment averaged 346% growth each year from 2008 through 2011.

In line with the overall growth of the industry, new jobs are being created in the 3D printing sector. In the annual report of the world’s largest job survey, conducted by Freelancer.co.uk, they found that 3D design jobs take offas3DprinterslikeMakerBotstarttogomainstream. Powered by open-source soft-ware, this surge in interest in 3D printing has resulted in a surge of growth, with 3D Mod-eling up 21%, 3D Rendering up 13%, and 3D Animation up 6% in the last year. While 3D printing currently is only a drop in the global GDP bucket, investors are not perturbed, and have been bullish about investing in companies like 3D Systems, and Stratasys, sending the share price of Stratasys in particular soaring 479% in the course of one year.15

Considering that manufacturing accounts for about 16% of global GDP there is massive potential for 3D printing to take a slice of this $11 trillion market.15 A 2010 Ganter report identified3DPrintingastransformational technology in the Technology Trigger phase of the Hype Cycle (i.e., only 5-10 years from mass adoption), suggesting that this proportion is likely to grow.16TheEconomistwrites:“Justasnobodycould have predicted the impact of the steam engine in 1750—or the printing press in 1450, or the transistor in 1950 — it is impossible to foresee the long-term impact of 3D printing. But the technology is coming,

anditislikelytodisrupteveryfieldittouches.Companies, regulators and entrepreneurs should start thinking about it now. One thing, at least, seems clear: although 3D printing will create winners and losers in the short term, in the long run it will expand the realm of industry — and imagination.”17

What are other countries doing?

Other countries are investing large amounts of money and attention into advanced manu-facturing and 3D printing.

The United StatesUSPresidentObamaraisedtheprofileof3Dprinting by including it in his 2013 State of the Union address saying: “There are things we can do, right now, to accelerate this trend. Lastyear,wecreatedourfirstmanufacturinginnovation institute in Youngstown, Ohio. A once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. There’s no reason this can’t happen in other towns. ”The US Government has embraced 3D printing, and the ‘once-shuttered warehouse in Ohio,’ Obama referenced has now been transformed into the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute and has also recently announced a $200 million package.FromthefirstMassachusettsInstitute of Technology (MIT) Fab Lab (community technology and equipment hubs housing 3D printers amongst other advanced tools) roughly 200 international Fab Labs now exist, including in New Zealand, and US Congressman Bill Foster has introduced legis-lation that would develop a national Fab Lab network throughout the US. President Obama has also called on Congress to enact a proposal for a one-time $1 billion investment to create a network of 15 man-ufacturing innovation institutes across the country.18

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ChinaDespite risks to its low-cost manufacturing dominance, the Chinese government is investing in this new technology. The China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance in May this year announced the development of ten 3D printing innovation centres at a cost 500 million RMB or $USD80 million.

The United KingdomThe United Kingdom Government is investing in a number of initiatives and research support.NotablyinJune2013,BusinessSecretary Vince Cable announced UK businesses will be given a £14.7 million boost to develop 3D printing projects. In October 2012, the UK Universities and Science Minister announced a £7 million Government investment in research and development. Grants for collaborative research and development projects in additive manufacturing will be awarded through the ‘Inspiring New Design Freedoms in Additive Manufacturing’ competition opening on 3 December.19 The UK Government has also recently announced a requirement for 3D printers to be used in design and technology lessons, after major revisions to the subjects’ curriculum.20

AustraliaAt a state level, Australia is also recognizing and investing in the potential impact of 3D printing. In November 2012, the Australian Network for Art and Technology established in an Adelaide Fab Lab funded by the South Australian Government’s Department of Further Education, Employment, Science, &Technology.21 Additionally, the NSW Trade & Investment Centre in Sydney recently hosted an event with industrial designer Scott Summit on innovative business opportunities available from “additive manufacturing” or 3D printing.24 Further, Business Victoria is investing $3 million to establish a Victoria Direct Manufacturing Technology Centre for developing alternative direct manufacturing technologies – also called additive manufacturing, solid freeform fabrication, layered manufacturing, and 3D printing.

SingaporeSingapore’s Government will invest $500 millionoverfiveyearstoboostthecountry’sskills in advanced manufacturing, including in the rapidly emerging 3D printing industry. Announced in Budget 2013, this funding is part of government’s Future of Manufacturing (FoM) programme aimed at gettingSingapore’smanufacturingfirmstoembrace disruptive technologies such as 3D printing and robotics as well as new business models such as mass customisa-tion. In September 2013 Nanyang Technological University opened a new US $30 million additive manufacturing centre.

New Zealand has a unique chance to position itself at the forefront of an emerging new technology that The Economist says may have as big an impact as the coming of the factory. As the late professor Paul Callaghan said, New Zealand’s path to prosperity lies intechnologyniches,and3Dprintingoffersa growing economic niche for the country. Theremaybebigfirstmoveradvantagesforcountries that adopt 3D printing early. Other countries are clearly investing significantsumsintothistechnologyanditisimportant New Zealand does not miss out.

NewZealandcurrentlysuffersfromadependence on a few commodity exports, large distances to markets, declining manufacturing activity, graduates and skilled workers emigrating and limited availability to raise domestic capital for new investment. 3D printing can help mitigate some of these challenges. We neither can nor should ever compete with Chinese or Indian factories for mass producing low-cost products, however, there are boundless opportunities for designing products, rapidly prototyping them on domestic printers and exporting the products, designs and services online.

The New Zealand digital manufacturing opportunity

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If we can apply Kiwi ingenuity to computer-aided design product develop-ment, there is no limit to our export sales potential. If we can apply ‘number 8 wire’ innovative thinking with new digital tools we canpositiontobenefitfromthe3D manufacturing revolution. Professor Gideon Levy, a world expert on additive manufacturing said of the technology for New Zealand it was “…good for New Zealand’s small volume, high complexity product manufacturing and opens up huge potential with almost unlimited design potential.”25 New Zealand has a well-regarded education system, a high percentage of the workforcewithtertiaryqualifications,andisnoted for its design expertise. It is imperative that New Zealand capitalise by applying these strengths to the 3D printing industry.

Research, experimentation and commercial services are currently being un-dertaken or provided at Victoria University’s School of Architecture and Design, Massey University’s School of Design and its Fab Lab, Auckland University’s Innovative Manufacturing and Materials Programme and AUT’s Rapid Prototyping Lab. Victoria University’s 3D model workshop was recently highlightedasoneofonlyfiveinternationaluniversity projects in the NMC Horizon Report: 2013 Higher Education Edition, ‘New Zealand’s universities have seen the value of 3D printing, and are already placing themselves at the forefront of the international research on its uses.’

New Zealand has a handful of makerspaces or Fab Labs such as the Wellington Makerspace,acommercialspaceofferingequipment for use, courses, and prototyping support. Several other such hubs have been set up around the country, including: Tangleball, an Auckland-based creative space; Mindhive, another Auckland-based technology consulting space; CoLab181 and Dspace in Wellington; and Dunedin based shared workshops.

New Zealand 3D printing product designers have garnered widespread international media coverage for their innovative designs. KiwistudentJakeEvillreceivedinternationalmedia attention for his innovative idea to create 3D printed exoskeleton casts inspired by the spongy latticed form of bone tissue in what appears as a thin honeycomb,27 pro-grammer Ivan Sentch has received global acclaim for his on-going project to 3D print a rare Aston Martin car, and Olaf Diegel is exporting his 3D printed electric guitars inter-

Surveying NZ’s 3D printing scene

Currently, New Zealand has pockets of ex-cellence and innovation in 3D printing but is lacking in Government leadership. Many would not know that the world’s second largest 3D printing services bureau, Ponoko, is headquartered in New Zealand. Ponoko describe themselves as “the world’s easiest making system” and they allow customers to buy, sell, and make 3D printed or laser cut products from their website. They say, “We’re reinventing the future of products by making it easier to make things. We see a future when you download your products from the Internet and make them locally.”

Commercially 3D printing is being used by a number of New Zealand companies. Plastic Design Technologies is using it for manufac-turing hearing aids; The Titanium Industry Development Association (TIDA) produce a range of commercial products from Team NZ boat knives, to heart valves, and marine equipment parts; and Oceania Defence Ltd are exporting lightweight suppressors. In Wellington, Fraser Engineering use 3D printing to produce prototypes and parts forthefireappliancemarket.26

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nationally.Despite some excellent work, the advances of 3D printing currently undertaken in New Zealand are occurring in a vacuum of governmental leadership. 3D printing was identifiedasan“opportunity”ata2012 National Science Challenges Workshop; however the New Zealand Government does not appear to have a 3D printing strategy and has been conspicuously quiet on the opportunity for additive manufacturing in NewZealand.Thehighestprofilepubliccomment by a Minister on the topic was by Maurice Williamson who, in a much derided interview on Radio NZ, warned against homemade printing of guns and drugs.

A 2012 report to the Minister of Science and Innovation,HonStevenJoyce,recommend-ed 3D printing equipment in relation to the establishment of the Advanced Technology Institute; however implementation has been slow. This raises questions about how seriously the issue is being handled at the national strategic level. Some small funding grants have been how-ever and to promote a range of innovative manufacturing technologies $12.7m was allocated for 6 years for the NZ Product Accelerator, across 9 organisations primarily universities to research a range of materials and processes, including additive manufacturing28 and Callaghan Innovation recently agreed to invest in a second 3D metals printer at the Tauranga-based TIDA.

There is little information publicly available on current uptake of 3D printing in the education system. In response to a written question, the Ministry of Education said it did not have information as to which schools, if any, had 3D printers available for students’ use. A media search revealed only Scots Col-lege had publically talked about 3D printing, as part of a new $15m technology and arts block.29 This suggests that the future focus on

innovative and transformative technologies, a future which will be the reality for this generation of school children, is being ignored by both the Government and the education sector.

The New Zealand digital manufacturing opportunity

New Zealand needs a Digital Manufacturing Strategy

If we fail to develop a national strategy to embrace and foster this technology, New Zealand risks missing out on the additive printing economic opportunity. Like other global technological advances leading to economic transformations, such as refrigerated shipping which New Zealand embraced and prospered from, New Zealand needs to be agile and future-focused.

Other Governments are actively prioritising and supporting this growing industry yet in New Zealand we lack even a public conversation about the technology or where it could take the country. The Government has a crucial role to provide leadership, outlining a vision and encouraging a debate. On an economic, social and environmental level we should be discussing:

• How are digital manufacturing technologies currently being used by manufacturers, researchers and hobbyists?

• How could New Zealand capitalise on these technological developments?

• How well are we placed to take advantage?

• What are the barriers to adoption?

• Do we need a national 3D printing centre like the US, or a series of hubs? Or, do we leave it to universities and the Callaghan Institute?

• Are we adequately training the next generation of designers and printers at school to be able to prosper in the coming decades?

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There are also tricky questions surrounding intellectual property, legal responsibility of products, safety and regulatory issues such as faced by printing weapons. New Zealand should be asking how it can play a construc-tive role internationally in dealing with these issues. There must also be an informed pub-lic debate about genuine regulatory, legal, and safety issues surrounding 3D printing. At present, there is virtually no discussion on the economic opportunities facing New Zealand and the little media coverage there has been has primarily focused on the threat of printing guns.

The New Zealand Government needs to provide leadership and start work immediately to develop a 3D printing policy with input from stakeholders, business, experts, schools, communities and the wider public.

New Zealand is unlikely to ever ship a large number of 3D printed products from our shores to foreign markets, but we can take a lead in transporting ideas electronically and near-instantaneously as well as capturing a significantportionofwealthfromnewsales.New Zealand’s real opportunity could be focusing on designing products, owning the intellectual property and providing services. Thereisnolimittothenumberofdesignfileswe could export instantaneously over the Internet. New Zealand could further focus onspecificandfosternichesforexampleinhealth care, agricultural or marine 3D printed products.

New Zealand could adopt the strategies used by other countries and develop a National Digital Manufacturing Innovation Centre in either a central location or spread between Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to provide leadership, drive research and assist in commercialising 3D printed products and designs. Additionally a national innovation centre could be assisted through a network of community run maker spaces or regional Fab Labs to promote experimentation, fa-miliarisation and product development. The ability to relatively inexpensively 3D print a product for testing or establishing market demand before large quantity manufacture couldbeabigbenefitforstart-ups.Tradi-tional manufacturing methods involve high set-up costs to produce a run of lower-cost products. Thanks to 3D printing, the start-up costs are low and the production costs from then on are uniform. This could be a boon to inventors and start-ups because trying out new products will become less risky and expensive.31 A national centre or regional Fab Lab could assist New Zealand companies and start-ups to develop new products and exports growing jobs and regional economic development.

In the last few decades, New Zealand has sufferedfromadecliningmanufacturingsec-tor.3Dprintingoffersnewopportunitiesandpotentially cheaper ways of doing existing manufacturing. Manufacturing GDP as a percentage of total GDP dropped from 25.8% in 1972 to 12.4% in 2010.32

• How can existing manufacturers take advantage for prototyping?

• Canweleadinaspecificproduct category, a part in the 3D printing chain exporting CAD designs, or in research in advanced greener printing materials?

• What needs to be done to get a head start on other countries?

Digital manufacturing in NZ?

3D printing could become a major area of wealth creation in the future, as well as a driver of productivity growth. A national strategy developed at an early stage with a focus on support and education would be highlybeneficialforNewZealand.

New Zealand imports around $11 billion of manufactured products each year, around a quarter of our total merchandise exports. Producing more products domestically would have a positive impact on New Zealand’s bal-ance of payments and stimulate economic development.30

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Asapercentageoftotalfilledjobs,manufac-turing-filledjobsdroppedfrom26.1%in1975to only 15.7% in 2005.333Dprintingoffersan opportunity to grow jobs in a new growth industry, making up for many of these lost jobs.Thispointwasidentifiedina2010Australian Government commissioned report which found that “Additive manufacturing is an enabling technology that can help the Australian manufacturing industry achieve [its] goal”4 and we can do likewise. 3D print-ingoffersNewZealandanewfuture-focusedmanufacturing niche.

Possibly the most important role the Government could play in encouraging 3D printing starts at schools. Much like the U.K. Governments intention to incorporate 3D printing into the educational curriculum, our Ministry of Education could be driving greater usage, experimentation and familiarisation at an early level. To prepare for digital manufacturing opportunities students could be encouraged to learn the basics of computer-aided design and experiment printing their own designs. To encourage this, the Government could adopt an aspirational goal of a 3D printer in every school or access to a mobile Fab Lab or partner with regional maker spaces or tertia-ry institutions to provide their students with access to this technology.

Conclusion

3D printing and wider digital manufacturing technologies are potentially transformative technologies and it is important New Zealand considers the impact and opportunities. This paper has surveyed the international and do-mestic 3D printing scene and concludes the technology will have an impact on the way the world and business works and argues New Zealand needs to be at the forefront embracingthetechnologyandprofitingfromit. This paper suggests a path forward for the Government that starts with a compres-sive investigation and public discussion that leads to a support strategy that may include a national innovation centre and support for start-ups through maker spaces or Fab Labs

Authorised by Gareth Hughes, Parliament Bldgs, Wgtn

Gareth Hughes MPGreen Party ICT Spokesperson

and that lastly looks to the future, skilling students with the skills needed for the digital manufacturing economy. New Zealand needs to put in places steps now to make sure in thefuturewearetheonesprofitingfromdesigning the products not just importing designs and printing them.

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