Close your eyes and imagine a magic machine with which you can create almost any product: a toy, a box to store tools, a piece of furniture or the spare part for a car. And you can even sell them. Now, I opened my eyes: that artifact already exists and it is called a 3D printer.Its operation is simple: open a file with an editing program for the computer and send it to the 3D printer, which will deposit, layer after layer, a row of material (plastic, mostly), to create the product.This technology is radically changing the way to produce. In fact, Karl Schawb, founder of the World Economic Forum indicated in his book "Fourth Industrial Revolution" (he was the one who coined the term) that this innovation is one of the "tangible" pillars of the digital economy.The Argentines were early adopters, less than a decade ago. Such was its development that there are already several companies that manufacture 3D printers and even export them to Europe. There are also local producers of inputs and an association that brings together those who work under this modality."There was a strong growth six years ago, because they were the beginnings of this technology in our country, and then, the progress has been as steady as ever," says Irene Presti, president of the Argentine Chamber of 3D Printing and Digital Fabrications.In addition, more and more entrepreneurs are "armed SME": design and manufacture different products with this technology to then sell them. Large companies also take advantage of it to make models of new products or design buildings before building them. Everyone wants to take advantage of the "3D revolution".How to startIn Argentina, there is a large ecosystem around this technology so it is very easy to get both the equipment and the inputs. The only requirements to start manufacturing is to have a computer, a 3D printer and modeling software to design the products."There are different types of printers: DIY (kits to assemble oneself), which cost between $ 15,000 and $ 20,000, semiprofessionals, ranging from $ 40,000 to $ 200,000, and professionals, which are above $ 10. 000 ", explains Emiliano Carreira, director of Trimaker, to iProUP.According to the executive, each category differs by the degree of "control over printing variables." Although he points out that semi-professionals "are ideal for SMEs with production, educational institutions, design studios or architecture and companies in general".However, those who just start or are only doing a specific project, can access a 3D printing center. They usually charge-on average-150 pesos per hour.It is also possible to attend the Metropolitan Design Center, dependent on the Secretariat of Entrepreneurs and Pymes of Buenos Aires, where these devices can be used free of charge: you just have to take the supplies and attend a very simple course to learn how to use them.A standard 3D printer uses FDM technology (Molded Deposition Modeling), which consists of using plastic filaments that the machine melts and places through an extruder head according to the "coordinates" sent by the computer.Several types of materials can be used, including:- PLA (Polylactic Acid), a polymer obtained from sustainable sources such as sugar cane, corn or other vegetables with a high starch content. It is the most used.- ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene), which contains petroleum derivatives.In both cases, they come in spools of between 0.5 and 1 kilogram, which cost between 400 and 800 pesos per kilo."It's a technology with almost no waste, where you can choose how you fill the pieces (for example, leave them hollow) and thus optimize the material ... From 1kg of filament you should get a kilo of product," Carreira emphasizes.Experts warn that the hardest part comes from the software side. To do this, two types of programs are used:- From "modeling": you need to have knowledge of 3D design to create "from scratch" an object and save it in an SBL file. There are free alternatives, such as Tinkercad, Blender, Meshmixer and Free Cad.- "Cut": used to open STL files and "cut" the model in layers, so that this information is sent to the printer. No previous knowledge is needed. The most used is Cura 3D and it is free.Also, on the Internet there are free resources to launch, tutorials to be able to handle this type of programs. It is also possible to use a 3D scanner to replicate an object easily.With regard to the energy side, printers consume about 350 Watts per hour, which is about the same as a PC. "As an example, a 1cm cube can take a maximum of 10 minutes," remarks the Trimaker executive.Those who are already encouraged3D printing is an alternative to fast and economic "manufacturing", which is why a large number of SMEs from all over the country have already taken advantage of its possibilities. One of the most interesting examples is Star Soluciones Tecnológicas, based in the province of Chubut that is dedicated to the manufacture of personalized drones."We use 3D printing to better manage time and resources, design the parts and send prototypes to print in approximately 18 hours," says Ezequiel Queque Parodi, director of the firm, to iProUP."One already has in the same company these prototypes, which are analyzed and adapted, if they have to be modified, they are redesigned and sent back to print, there are no associated freight or delay times for suppliers, everything is more agile and personalized" , complete.Your company uses these drones for the management of natural disasters, such as forest fires, volcanic eruptions and search and rescue of people. One of its main clients is the Ministry of Science and Technology, through a project of the Patagonian Andean Forestry Research and Extension Center.Another of the startups that bets on this technology is Widergy, whose first product is a device that is placed in the home light meter and sends data on consumption to a mobile application."We use it to make the case (casing) of our equipment so that it fits perfectly in the meter and can read the consumption data", Gustavo Casaforte, Founder and CEO of Widergy, tells iProUP.According to the entrepreneur, 3D printing allows them to create different prototypes until they find the one indicated, since it is a task of precision, since it must fit perfectly into the home meter.Although the focus of the company is on equipment for companies, this equipment aimed at the final consumer is in the testing stage with the electricity distributor Edenor, which could offer it to residential users in its area of coverage.From the Chamber Camera Argentina of 3D Printing and Digital Fabrications cite several cases of successful ventures that use these equipment to create their products. One of them is Lámparas Doña, which sells premium lighting articles made entirely with sustainable filaments PLA from its online store.In addition, one of its lamps, called "Victoria", was selected for the national innovation contest Innovar 2015 thanks to industrial design combined with 3D printing.Another surprising example is Fona, an enterprise that designs, develops, manufactures and provides musical instruments using 3D printing, such as guitars, charangos and ocarinas.What is comming3D printing goes beyond startups, as it is also becoming a tool of the "traditional" industry.According to Carreira, Aeropuertos Argentina 2000 uses its equipment to carry out the models of the air terminals that it builds or remodels, which are presented at each stage until its final approval.Unilever also has a 3D printer to sketch the cans of their Ax deodorants. Once the expected design is met, the model is used to create a matrix for the mass production of the containers.As iProUP realized, this technology is also being used for medical purposes. Nicolás Berenfeld, head of Business at WeBio, an Argentine startup specializing in 3D bio-printing, underlines two applications: impressions of pre-surgical models and 3D bio-printing.In the first case, organs or bones are replicated to help better plan a surgery."They take out the 3D model of a tomography, for example, to have the patient's real situation and that allows the doctor to better understand how to proceed in his intervention," explains Berenfeld.For its part, 3D bioprinting consists of the use of human cells to recreate tissues and functional organs. For this, a bioprinter is used, which is a machine that works with syringes and with greater precision.In this way, a 3D structure is generated from biotapes, which have a texture similar to gelatin. Then, it is placed in a culture medium so that the cells grow and diffuse in said structure, progressively replacing the gelatin with the desired tissue.In addition to plastics and biotech, this innovation also uses metals as raw material. Experts say that there are still no figures of printers that work with these inputs.In this particular case, the cost is a bit high for a start-up venture: around US $ 500,000. However, its uses will revolutionize the entire industry, according to experts in the field, since it allows to shorten and cheapen the processes of industrial design and tooling.In addition to mass production, it provides flexibility to personalize products, such as the creation of an autopart for a very old car or the development of machinery parts. And the future seems more revolutionary still, almost science fiction.According to Schawb of the World Economic Forum, "researchers are already working on 4D, a process that could create a new generation of products that change themselves."