The world has advanced so much that science fiction is becoming a reality. This is abundantly clear in manufacturing sector as technology moves from prototyping to tooling, to additive manufacturing commonly known as 3D printing. 3D printing has expanded to full-scale end-part production and replacement part production. Be it a 3D printed  bionic ear enabling you to hear beyond human hearing frequencies, 3D printed cake toppings taking the culinary innovation to another level, 3D printing your dream house in just a few hours — 3D printing is rapidly becoming the newest industrial revolution. According to  Wohlers Report 2014 , the worldwide revenues from 3D printing are expected to grow from $3.07 billion in 2013 to $12.8 billion by 2018, and exceed $21 billion by 2020. No wonder one of the biggest players in printing, Hewlett-Packard, entered the field with a faster, cheaper version of 3D printer focused on the Enterprise Market. This is the first step from a revolutionary Maker Movement toward a full industrial scale revolution. The world has entered a time where it is possible to take a 3D physical product or an idea to the digital world, which happens to be 2D and then back out to 3D physical form anywhere across the globe, where an IP address and enough bandwidth is available to be able to transmit the digital model — it is all possible. This does have significant disruption potential. Questions arise, such as, how much and when will this happen? But it all depends on several factors from economics and technological feasibility, to policies and politics. So the question remains, are we ready to go beyond the growth that the DIY enthusiasts have driven from 200% to 400% in personal 3D printers between 2007 and 2011 according to a  McKinsey  Study? Before this question can […]