Recently, for example, GM made $60,000$ weatherproof seals using $3-$D printing, in plastic, rather than making them the old$-$fashioned way, to make sure it could deliver its $2022$ Chevy Tahoe on time. BMW is making broad use of $3-$D$-$printed parts throughout its lineup. Mercury Marine is producing its newest V$12,600-$horsepower outboard motor with $3-$D$-$printed molds.

$3-$D printing is making rapid inroads into conventional manufacturing all over the world. Globally, the entire industrial additive$-$manufacturing market grew to $$13$ billion in $2022,$ from $$5\mathrm{.}7$ billion in $2016.$ That growth should accelerate in the next $5$ years, with the size of the industry reaching $$37$ billion by $2026,$ as industrial $3-$D printing displaces traditional mass manufacturing.

Companies can also use $3-$D printing to do away with some of their inventory of spare parts, many of which can sit on warehouse shelves for years. Both Caterpillar and Saudi Aramco, for example, are digitizing their libraries of old parts so that they can print them in $3-$D as needed, when machines that may have working lives of decades break. During the pandemic, Caterpillar began using some $3-$D printed parts, made in the U$.$S$.,$ in place of conventionally manufactured versions that had become difficult to import from India.

Source: The Wall Street Journal $($January $14-15,2023).$

Critical Thinking Questions

Being able to produce via $3-D$ printing on demand may be especially valuable for spare parts that are

A$.$ inexpensive.

B$.$ motorized.

C$.$ common.

D$.$ large.

E$.$ old.