China Jumps on the 3D-Printing Wave

China is the world's largest manufacturer. They produce a diverse range of products including clothes, toys, and parts. Often when you purchase something the infamous 'Made in China' can be found somewhere on the product. Now, other countries have used 3d printers nip away at China's grasp on manufacturing. China's response, an 80 million dollar investment.



The Group


Last year 3D china printing industry leaders formed the 3DP Industry Alliance in Beijing - their goal: promoting the 3D printing technology in China. The members include several universities such as the United Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tsinghua University and other authoritative research institutions. They scheduled their third council meeting in Chengdu where they revealed their plans.



The Idea


3DP Industry Alliance will establish the new 3D printing technology Innovation Center in Chengdu, particularly in the Shuangliu County. The investment will come from Industry Alliance and the local county's government. The government will also provide $16 - 32 million USD to help local research. The Shuangliu County is roughly 12 miles from downtown Chengdu and hosts the fifth popular airport in all of China, the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport.



3D printing in china's Manufacturing


Unlike typical manufacturing where you often have a whole piece and cut away at it, 3D printing implements an additive concept rather than the removal one. To date, China hasn't really utilized additive manufacturing across its myriad factories. China has around 9% of the world's 3D printers while the United States controls 40% of the world's printers.



The new innovation center is meant to increase the Research and Development that many others have already begun a long time ago. The 3D printing technology research is meant to assist in the making of electronic components as well as helping out in the automobile industry.



Possibilities in the Future


China's recent investment could spark rival massive investments in other countries and possibly another one in their own. The desire to increase the abilities and uses of 3D printers only helps the growing technology become even bigger.



Although some believe that supporting industry-leaders could hurt smaller manufacturers, the discoveries could actually eventually help smaller outfits who don't have the capital to invest in heavy R&D.



The centers, like the one wanting to be constructed in Chengdu, serve more to spread the ideas being discovered there. The manufacturing plants do not control them so it is more of a community research project. This means that what they possibly learn could help you, even if you are just the occasional printing user. Besides it will take some time before 9 percent can turn into 40 percent.

Good News - Cheaper and More Affordable Printer Inks

Finally the good news, no longer does one have to buy expensive printer inks, printer cartridges, ink cartridges for inkjets; now, cheap ink is

available wherever you go, whenever you need one. Long gone are the days where one has to go to the computer store to hunt for the elusive printer

inks which only come in exorbitant prices.

When the printer inks started fading, many people who owned printers and needed to print out something fast and immediately groaned in frustration

for there was nothing worse than running out of ink and what made it even worse than worse, it always happened when the budget was way down low.

Those who really felt the pinch were the students who had to use the printers in the school and always got lousy printing jobs for their

assignments. Unfortunately, many professors did not like print jobs which could hardly be read because of how faint the ink was. Not only that, a

lot of professors made it a point that their assignments, projects, and essays were all to be submitted within hours or days from one another. Most

students just had to get their own printers to be able to submit on time. Of course, making sure that all of the assignments had to be computer

printed made things worse. It was very difficult for a lot of students and the costs of the printer inks were too much to handle for a lot of

students.

Fortunately, some enterprising individuals made it easier for everyone concerned by introducing the cheap printer inks which could be refilled in

refilling stations. These stations were all over the place, the malls, department stores, even food parks in most cases. Those places were the most

frequented by students. Of course some claim that the quality is not nearly the same as the original cartridges, but in fact, a lot of these

refillable printer inks are just as great on paper. In fact, these are the same inks which are now used by a lot of professional shanghai printing company

companies, the cheaper the costs in ink, the more affordable their products are.