3D Printing revolutionizing the future of Medical Devices

3-D Printing is the process of creating actual objects from their computerized 3-D design. The object is formed by application of successive layers of the solid material to get the desired product. This technology has been a huge success in various industries like aviation and engineering and now it is progressively finding use in health care industry. These printers have the capability to use vast range of materials like stem cells (under research), other biological materials to create prosthetics which can replace the defects of human body. 3-D printing is going to revolutionize the medical devices industry by offering unparalleled advantages which will shake up how we see the industry today. Introduction: The Medical Device industry is showing growth in 2015 in spite of some countries facing economic uncertainties. Though the medical device sales have been subdued to 19% in 2014 of the firms up from 12% in the previous year, these trends are forcing the medical device manufacturers to shift their focus towards the COGS so that they can sustain their margins This need of the hour was addressed by medical device manufacturers via: -Supplier consolidation -Plants operation consolidation -Product consolidation -And alternate technology tracking. While the first three static avenues were trialed and tested for significant time frame, the last line item constantly updated itself and needed specific attention of sourcing managers. Dynamic technology market gave out a platform which has been in use for long, but in recent past has found a significant application at Healthcare front; the technology in reference is �3D- Printing�.   Author: Devashish Ghosh