DDM has the possibility to produce personalised high quality
products with the batch size of one. With affordable machines and
open source software and digitalised skill acquisition, DDM and AM
enable a wide spectrum of users. A populace empowered with the
possibility of producing any products will have an entirely different
impact on society and will inevitably lead to a change in energy and
material consumption. Since production systems represent
extremely complex environments it is unrealistic that all 3D printer
users will have a consideration beyond part quality. However
environmental and economic issues such as energy and material
consumption, waste management, profitability per product,
manufacturing costs and manufacturing time must be considered.
By using a DOE approach this research has identified a method for
identifying opportunities in balancing wasteful methods related to
scrap weight, part weight, energy consumption and production
time, and provides solutions for a more positive impact on sustainable
development.