Debate over 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, has hit the market suddenly over the past six months, according to Reeves. But the process has been in development for over 25 years, and, although technology has come a long way since then, he said that attitudes have not changed.
Reeves added: "There is always an element of fear in new technology – just look at the inkjet revolution. A lack of education in terms of the capabilities of these machines and how to use them is what is holding 3D printing back from becoming mainstream industry."
Reeves said that common technology would bring 2D print and 3D together and that manufacturing skills were more suited to the 3D print industry with stricter quality-control methods (aerospace wings perhaps need to go through more intricate testing than a direct mail leaflet).
According to Reeves HP sells a 3D printer under the HP product brand, which is licenced from Stratasys, and Ricoh printheads whave been incorporated in Objet 3D machines, showing a "big crossover between 2D and 3D".
He said in the next decade, print shops, communities and even households will have 3D printers installed for consumer applications.
"If the technology limitations were five times faster and cheaper then more people would want to use them. But the price is coming down year-on-year, and the way in which it is used is become more widespread," he added.
He claimed that large toy companies are in talks about selling data to customers to print products and personalise them, with the possibility of the conventional cereal box toy being replaced with a digital blueprint for self-printing.
The limitation on materials suitable for 3D printing is also an issue that developers are working on to bring the industry to rival 2D print. Although 3D printers can apply to substrates including plastics, ceramics, metals and organic matter, the variety within these categories is still somewhat restricted.
Reeves said: "There is a huge selection, but, for example, there are 42,000 engineering polymers, and we can currently print on around 200."
However, the medical sector has found a vast range of uses for 3D printing, from hip implants to tooth crowns. Reeves claimed that MRI data can be mapped onto ceramic products to produce body parts precisely engineered for the patient. The geometrics possible with 3D print, he claimed, far outstrip those offered by traditional manufacturing and, indeed, 2D print.
And the fashion industry is fast cottoning on, too. Shoes have been produced using the technique and the capabilities of 3D print for the fashion world is soon to be showcased at a catwalk event at the 3D Printshow in October. Visitors will be given the chance to design jeans created for their body shape using MRI scan details again. The only setback is that denim has not yet made the list of materials suitable for 3D print.
Reeves will exhibit at the 3D PrintShow in London from 19-21 October.
