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3D printing started in 1984 when Charles Hull patented stereolithography (SLA) a form of 3D printing. This form of 3D printing, converts liquid materials to solid materials, layer by layer, by curing them using a light source in a process called photopolymerization. This form of 3D printing was only used in the manufacturing industry to test new product and designs. However, in the late 90s and early 2000s, this technology started to spread and was used in other fields, such as medicine where researchers were able to engineer and print a working kidney (H. Bensoussan, 2016).

3D printing was still in the hands of a few who could afford this type of machinery at the time, nonetheless as the patent from Charles Hull expired more companies started to find ways to use 3D printing (Formlabs, 2017). As a result, a new form of 3D printing was created; fused deposition modeling (FDM), where a melted material is ejected by a needle at the precise place creating layer by layer the desired solid object. This new form of 3D printing allowed the introduction of desktop models which made it possible to take a technology that was only used at the industrial level to any household. From that point onwards, 3D printing has been gaining a lot of media coverage as well as more interest by people leading to a big open source community dedicated to improving 3D printing (D. Goldberg, 2014).

Today, 3D printing has evolved to an extent which seemed to be unreachable at the beginning. 3D printers can use silver or gold to create jewelry, cells to create organs or blood vessel, cement to create houses and even use edible materials to create new dishes. As the technology evolves the quality of the outcomes increases and the cost decrease, making it more attractive for manufacturing companies as well as other small businesses. First of all, 3D printer gives the option to create prototypes at fast at a relatively low cost, allowing companies to easily test products. Secondly, these printing techniques reduce the waste produced when manufacturing a product, which would also lower the cost of production (A. Pîrjan & D. Petroşanu, 2013).

However, the 3D printer will not only affect the way that companies manufacture products, but it will revolutionize the way they sell those products. Nowadays, companies have to manufacture, pack and send the product to the retailer or directly to the customer, however with 3D printers it would be possible for companies to give their customer the option to print the product themselves since the printer works using a computer file. This system would reduce the cost for the company as well as reduce the price for the customer while at the same time making the process much faster for both sides (M. Schooff, 2017).

As seen above, 3D printing is evolving rapidly and seems to be changing the way we create. Even though the technology is still not used by most people, is only a matter of time until we see mainstream adoption. As the price of 3D printers lower and the quality increases more people will be interested in buying them, which will encourage companies to create more uses for them.

 

A. Pîrjan, and D. Petroşanu, (2013). “The Impact of 3d Printing Technology On The Society And Economy”. Journal of Information Systems and Operations Management, [online] 7(2), pp.360-370. Available at: http://ftp://ftp.repec.org/opt/ReDIF/RePEc/rau/jisomg/Wi13/JISOM-WI13-A19.pdf [Accessed 10 Oct. 2017].

 

D. Goldberg, (2014). “History of 3D Printing: It’s Older Than You Think. [online] Redshift”. Available at: https://www.autodesk.com/redshift/history-of-3d-printing/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2017].

 

Formlabs (2017). “The Ultimate Guide to Stereolithography (SLA) 3D Printing”. [online] Formlabs.com. Available at: https://formlabs.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-stereolithography-sla-3d-printing/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2017].

 

H. Bensoussan, (2016). “The History of 3D Printing: From the 80s to Today”. [online] Sculpteo. Available at: https://www.sculpteo.com/blog/2016/12/14/the-history-of-3d-printing-3d-printing-technologies-from-the-80s-to-today/ [Accessed 10 Oct. 2017].

 

M. Schooff, (2017). “3D Printing: Industry Impact Considerations For 2017”. [online] Digitalist Magazine. Available at: http://www.digitalistmag.com/digital-supply-networks/2016/11/28/3d-printing-industry-impact-considerations-2017-04701333 [Accessed 10 Oct. 2017].

 

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In the past years, we have seen a rapid increase in the innovation and development of information technology; such as mobile phones, GPS systems, RFID technology or the internet, apart from countless others. These technologies have revolutionized the way that we as individual interact with the world around us, as well as with one another.

Moreover, these technologies are having an even more disruptive effect on the way processes are carried out by companies and corporations. One of the major effects of information technology has been on the supply chain management side of businesses. Firstly, because these information technologies allow businesses to access increasing amounts of data about customers, supplier or even competitors, for later data mining and/or knowledge extraction. Secondly, information technologies lower the transaction cost between buyer and supplier leading to a closer buyer-supplier relationship (M. Fasanghari and S. K. Chaharsooghi, 2009).

However, supply chain management might be about to encounter a major transformation with the integration of blockchain technology. The blockchain is a decentralized peer to peer network that is not owned by a single party, all the transactions or interactions that has happened on the network are recorded in a digital ledger. This digital ledger is owned by all the nodes or participants of the network, making it a transparent network for all participants (R. Hendrik, 2015). This system would completely automatize and digitalize the way companies to keep truck of all their inflows and outflows, as well as reduce the overall cost of doing so (K. Korpela, J. Hallikas, T. Dahlberg, 2017).

Furthermore, blockchain can provide a secure network where all these transactions are protected, first of all, because blockchain uses cryptography technology which encrypts the information on the network. Secondly, all the nodes need to verify and validate new transactions, this way if someone tries to cheat the ledger, all the other nodes will not arrive at a consensus and therefore will reject the transactions (C. Cachin, 2017). This type of protections will encourage business to change to the blockchain since it is almost impossible to hack the network.

Moreover, blockchain technology allows us to create smart contracts; “computer protocols intended to facilitate, verify or enforce the negotiations or performance of a contract” (Nick Szabo, 1997). These smart contracts could lead to the reduction of third parties’ systems or counterparty risk, reducing cost and reducing the extend to which companies have to trust a third party (Chamber of Digital Commerce, 2017). Smart contracts are very flexible and would allow companies to automate transactions to a very detailed level. These smart contracts would automate the way companies create simple contracts as well as reduce the number of intermediaries needed by a company.

Indubitably, information technology has and is still changing the way that supply chain management is being carried out by companies. However, blockchain will help change the way that data obtained by information technologies are used. Blockchain technology gives companies the option to create a secure network where transactions are automatically recorded and made visible for every member of the network.
Should companies trust the blockchain?

 

M. Fasanghari and S. K. Chaharsooghi (2009). “Utilizing IT as an Enabler for Leveraging the Agility of SCM”, Supply Chain the Way to Flat Organisation, Julio Ponce and Adem Karahoca (Ed.). Available from: https://www.intechopen.com/books/supply_chain_the_way_to_flat_organisation/utilizing_it_as_an_enabler_for_leveraging_the_agility_of_scm

R. Hendrik, (2015). “The Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology Explained”.

Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSP-taqLWPQ [Accessed 8 Oct. 2017].
Chamber of Digital Commerce (2017). “Smart Contracts: 12 Use Cases for Business & Beyond. Chamber of Digital Commerce”, p.3.

C. Cachin, (2017) “Blockchain, cryptocurrency, and consensus”, IBM Research- Zurich. Available at: https://www.zurich.ibm.com/~cca/talks/20170622-blockchain-ice.pdf [Accessed 8 Oct]

S, Nick, (1997). “Formalizing and Securing Relationships on Public Networks”. First Monday. Available at: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/548 [Accessed 8 Oct 2017]

K. Korpela, J. Hallikas, T. Dahlberg, (2017). “Digital Supply Chain Transformation toward Blockchain Integration”. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, p.4181-4191, Available at: http://hl-128-171-57-22.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/10125/41666/1/paper0517.pdf [Accessed 8 Oct 2017]