How 3D printing can influence waste management?

 I was talking with few young entrepreneurs on possible new business idea . One of them, Som Sen from IIM told that he is planning to start a 3D printing business.  I really found his business idea is interesting because it's expected 3d printing business will grow 300% by 2020. 

What's the size of 3D printing industry?

2012 - 1.3 billion USD
2016 - 3.1 billion USD
2020 - 5.2 billion USD


In this post, I will first talk about why I think impact of 3D printing is bigger than internet and I also added an interesting 3D printing video.

Here are some key idea on 3D printing and its impact

3D printing is taken seriously by manufacturers as an alternatives to cutting, bending, pressing and molding things. Actually it can help in improving lives of poor in developing countries.

3D printing can be used for creating boats, rain ater collector or custom build composting toilets. Actually making them from plastic waste is also beneficial to environment. 3D printers, by the very nature of their additive process, provide an incredible environmental impact.  When compared to traditional subtractive manufacturing processes, less material is used and less waste is produced.

3D printing is a mind-blowing process. It’s not a need-based business, but a want-based one.It actually helps people to define themselves what they want. 

3D-printing has proven useful in medicine, where it’s been used to print jawbones, prosthetics and replacement hips. In fact, Weijmarshausen of Philips says that a 3D-printed ball joint and the mesh pin that goes into the bone enables the bone to grow into the mesh, facilitating a very strong connection.

Companies like Organovo and Invetech have already built 3D printers to layer human cells and print any type of a desired 3D pattern. When further developed, these tissues could create blood vessels and hopefully, organs! Millions battle life-threatening complications in medical therapies and these solutions could save their lives. Because the parts would be built specifically for that person, the hope is that several complications of regular transplants will be bypassed as well.

3D printing machines are also known as rapid prototyping machines. Old rapid prototyping machines were quite huge and expensive.  This was the main reason for the technology only being affordable to big companies involved in manufacturing. The price was the biggest constraint and the main reason for smaller companies to outsource the task of creating 3D models to professionals who made 3D prototypes.

Here is an interesting article by Andrew Purvis on  3D printers "Will 3D printers make food sustainable?"

Please see another interesting video on DIY 3D printer in a most cost effective way 

Formlabs, Cambridge, raised $2,945,885 from kickstart to build high quality low cost 3D printers. .

Resources : How 3D printing works? 

News: 3D-Printable Guns Face Federal Ban :"Congress passed a law banning plastic guns for two decades, when they were just a movie fantasy," Israel said. "With the advent of 3D printers these guns are suddenly a real possibility, but the law Congress passed is set to expire next year."

How To Create Effective and Successful Project Team

Success of project depend mainly two factors (1) Team and (2) Decision making process. 

In this post, I will discuss how to form a project team for project success.

After completing more than 100 projects of various sizes, I found a team must have people having following skills:-

1. Persons having multidisciplinary skills. My common example will be duck from animal kingdom because it swims, it walks and it flies.  It is not excellent in any of them, but it can do all. 

People having multidisciplinary skill can manage the situation as long as they get a proper direction. They can make impact. Project manager need to recognize their incremental contribution in the program.

These people can fit to organization processes and policies. These people normally participates implementing phase reviews, performance metrics, and project steering committees to creating risk management dashboards.

2. Need few experts who are can generate disruptive idea to break any log jam situation. They can help you to lead. I will give examples of spine-tailed-swift and cheetah from animal kingdom as they are the fastest flier and runner. These people have the native skill to come out of business as usual mentality.

For a large complex project, normally there are several stakeholders and managing the expectations of stakeholder is a key to success. Team requires a smooth talker "speaking person" whose job is to manage the expectations of these stakeholders. His job is to pull everybody together and create a positive environment.

You also require an experienced "techie" who can solve the problem and find a quick solution to complex issue. This person normally gives time and cost effective solution. As they often challenge the "business as usual" mentality with their "blue ocean strategy", they might not be the most lovable person but a must have for the success of the project because they are actually innovator.

I strongly believe a small team is a key to success because crowd creates mainly noise. I know modern management speaks about “team work” but you will never find a statue of team in a park. This means at the core of our heart we always recognize the contribution of single person. Democracy seldom fails in project execution.

To drive performance, organizations must engage their employees. I think working in a small engaged team and taking a quick decision is key to success of Apple according to Ken Seagall. This approach helped Apple to avoid "innovator's dilemma".
 
Success of a company depends on how they manage the project. Hence, forming a team is very important and need to be done with due sincerity.