3D Printing for Development in the Global South

The 3D4D Challenge

T. Birtchnell,William Hoyle

• Editorial: Palgrave Pivot
• Año: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781137365668
• Categoría: Sozialwissenschaften
• Categoría: Globale Entwicklungsstudien

Birtchnell and Hoyle explore how printers, designs, materials and infrastructures all need to be 'just right' in order for meaningful social change to happen with appropriate scale. The 3D4D Challenge suggests 3D printing could reach scale in the Global South, even perhaps having the same impact as the mobile phone or microfinance in development.

1

The 3D4D Challenge

Abstract: A worldwide competition pitting innovators in 3D printing against each other in order to produce the most scalable grassroots community action project in the Global South is the principal case study of this book. The efforts of co-author William Hoyle, CEO of techfortrade, are detailed in this chapter on the 3D4D Challenge. Involving a number of different regions the competitors’ projects highlight the novelty and breadth of innovation extant in this worldwide initiative to apply what is currently a niche in the Global North to challenges in the Global South.

Birtchnell, Thomas and William Hoyle. 3D Printing for Development in the Global South: The 3D4D Challenge. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014. DOI: 10.1057/9781137365668.0005.

Beginnings

To date there have been few examples – indicators and forerunners – of 3DP being applied as a development enabler in the Global South. This chapter examines a recent worldwide effort to foster grassroots innovation in concert with overseas intermediaries and supporters in communities of need in Africa, South America, and South Asia. This Challenge makes the case for a serious consideration of 3DP’s dissemination and implementation for development. The 3DP ecosystem of technologies, materials, designs, and infrastructures has potential to improve opportunities and services that cover all people; support the policies or context that will improve the lives of the poor; and specifically target the rights, interests, and needs of the poor.¹ This first chapter details how the 3D4D Challenge incentivized a range of groups into thinking through and testing the finer points of 3DP on the ground in the Global South. Moreover, the Challenge sought to foster grassroots movements to work in liaison with intermediaries through knowledge and technology exchanges.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) techfortrade started operating in February 2011. The UK-registered charity’s birth was spurred by the ‘big idea’ that technology innovation could be focused on initiatives that could improve income and livelihood opportunities for people living and working at the bottom or base of the pyramid.² More specifically, the original thinking behind the launch of the charity revolved around the initial idea that by applying mobile technology solutions it might be possible to remove the barriers that prevented poor people, often living and working in rural communities, from engaging in trade on a national, regional, or international basis. Much of the early thinking focused on agricultural trade and the challenges of gaining access to reliable market information, making contact with buyers beyond ‘the farm gate’, and being able to secure deals and receive payment in a secure and reliable way. However, it quickly became clear that in many developing countries, the lack of good quality physical infrastructure, particularly road and rail connections, presents an equally if not greater barrier to trade.

This barrier is not just an impediment to the movement of finished goods, but also to the movement of inputs such as building materials or spare parts. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, supply chain management often involves complex transport arrangements that require goods to be moved to and from truck to boat to bicycle. Apart from the time taken to transport goods from door to door, the risks of damage or loss are significant. Throughout 2011, techfortrade talked to a few organizations that were working with rural artisans in developing countries, trying to help them market their work and these conversations confirmed the fact that poor physical infrastructure was a significant constraint.

In September 2011, Giles Keating, the Chair of techfortrade’s board of trustees and long term observer of 3DP developments for some time, sent techfortrade a copy of an article that had been published in The Economist earlier in the year. The article, entitled ‘Print Me a Stradivarius’ which also linked to another article from the same edition entitled ‘The Printed World’, included a subheading which read: ‘How a new manufacturing technology will change the world’. By the time the article was finished, ideas for the use of 3DP in developing countries were already forming; however, so too were a raft of potential obstacles, not least of which were the costs of the technology and the challenges of erratic power supplies and connectivity issues, particularly problematic if using 3DP was likely to require the movement of large digital files. However, techfortrade was keen to find out more about the potential for this technology in developing markets and, of course, turned to the Internet to see what could be found.

Of course, the answer was precious little. One of the few examples that came up on the use of 3DP for social benefit in a developing world context, was a project called ‘Rapid prototypes for Baghdad’ (RP4Baghdad) an initiative set up in 2005 by a group of additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping companies to assist surgeons in Iraq who were dealing with complex gunshot and bomb and blast injuries.³ CT scans that showed damaged bone and highlighted splintering were being sent from the field via the Internet to one of the collaborating partner organizations. Technicians would then adjust the scanned image to remove tissue information to reveal the geometry of the damaged bone so that an accurate 3D-printed replica could be made and shipped back to Iraq within a few days. With a 3D model, rather than a hazy X-ray, surgeons were better able to plan operations, reducing operating times significantly.

With few references available online that supported the hypothesis that 3DP could be a game-changer in developing markets, there was a need for expert advice. Dr Phil Reeves, Managing Director of an Additive Manufacturing consulting company called Econolyst, had worked in the field for over 20 years, having gained a PhD in the mid 1990s.⁴ Over a couple of lengthy phone calls, Phil patiently explained the current ‘state of play’ of 3DP and he provided feedback on the three scenarios that techfortrade had been considering. With Phil’s help, illustrations of each of the three scenarios were devised to later be used to ‘sell’ the case for the 3D4D Challenge to the board of techfortrade.

The first scenario was ‘Local Component Manufacture’. In many developing world situations, particularly in rural communities, it is often not possible to buy the most simple of components to fix such things as an irrigation pump or a vehicle. In the developed world, lack of immediate access to spare parts is at worst an inconvenience. Across the developing world, it might mean the difference between clean or dirty drinking water or education without electricity. However, a ‘telecentre’ or community hub, equipped with a 3D printer, a 3D scanner, the Internet, and training, could support localized manufacture of products and components, from simple medical aids or replacement components for agricultural vehicles to parts for generators, pumps or valves. Could it be possible to link together Western design data with developing world manufacturing capability? Could we digitize the reverse engineering process for ever more complex components?

The second scenario was ‘Digital Artisans’. Within the developed world, there are over 45,000 3DP systems, ranging from production facilities with 150 machines in one room, down to home-based hobbyist machines.⁵ In parallel with the new manufacturing paradigm of factories in people’s homes, is a growing community of web-based data sources. Very much in the same way that iTunes allows users to download digital music, web-based portals now allow users to buy and download 3D data files for home fabrication. However, to support potential consumers without their own 3DP machines (of which there are billions), a growing number of online 3DP service centres are also being established, where parts can be selected from catalogues and printed to order for a price.

Most of this consumer-based 3DP activity is focused on the production of toys, jewellery, homeware, and fashion, with the enabling 3D design data originating from Western designers and brand companies, who receive a licence fee for every file downloaded or part printed. In short, the infrastructure exists today for anyone with design skills, access to 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) software, and the Internet to engage in this global, digital supply chain. So could techfortrade stimulate a community of digital artisans, linked to telecentres in the developing world, who are paid for their creativity and design skills, possibly using a fair trade model?

The third scenario was ‘Healthcare’. The medical profession exemplifies the coupling of mass production and standardization, with personalization and choice across products such as hip implants and acetabular cups, which are mass produced in different sizes like training shoes. However, many of these products only cater for the needs of a select few, where a perfect set of conditions allows surgery to be undertaken quickly and efficiently. In an equal number of cases, the perfect conditions do not exist. Take for instance trauma, where there is little time for pre-operative planning and less time for bespoke implant design and manufacture.

However, by coupling 3DP with CT and MRI scanning systems, surgeons are now able to make rapid assessment and remediation of patients using personalized implants made from materials such as titanium. To date, 3DP has been used in maxiofacial reconstruction following trauma, hip and knee reconstruction following degenerative bone cancer, and cranioplasty following congenital deformity. Consider the benefits of a 3DP solution in a mobile hospital environment coupled with CT and MRI technologies. Imagine the possibilities in patient care if the orthopaedic factory could be condensed into one small machine unit.

By December 2011, the proposal was ready to be presented to techfortrade’s board of trustees. The original proposal focus...