Business View Magazine | December 2019

144 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE DECEMBER 2019 A s a manufacturing technology, 3D printing has become a powerful industrial force and an integral part of the everyday products we interact with. Its ability to create complex and creative prototypes across a wide set of machines, in addition to rendering quicker tooling cycles with more customizable solutions, have made it particularly vital for large-format, high-volume sectors such as aerospace and automotive. With these two industries continuously innovating designs and finding ways to make vehicles lighter and more efficient, steel also happens to be facing steep competition from materials such as carbon fiber reinforced plastics – composite materials which are now the preferred substitute for metal in many applications.