3D Printing vs Injection Molding for Mass Manufacture | Review of Quotes and Parts

In this video we are going to tackle a popular topic lately on 3D printing for mass manufacturing. My personal opinion is that 3D printing is not a mass manufacturing solution. It is great for prototyping and in some end use applications for strict requirements and low volume. In this video we are going to take a look at quotes from Fictiv for FDM, SLA, SLS, Urethane Casting, and Injection Molding. We will explore making a video game controller housing with each process and take quote numbers out to 10,000 units. I will talk about the numbers, sample prints, problems with each process, and give you my experience and opinion to let you decide what my point of view is worth to you. I strongly suggest people do their own research, design and quote your own parts, and figure out what the pros/cons for each option will be. Parts for the quotes were designed for printing and injection molding, but keeping them as similar as possible. Each model was made to have similar material volumes, features, and number of parts. Neither model was optimized to prevent misleading numbers. We will look at examples of FDM Parts, SLA Parts, SLS Parts and Injection molded parts. I will give you my opinion as someone who has been designing and producing parts for 20+ years and let you make the final decision. 00:00 Introduction 02:14 Quotes 08:09 Printing Process Samples 18:34 Common Talking Points 28:36 My Experience