3D Printing Technology Improves Traditional Manufacturing Sectors

Customised implants for public sector patients particularly (but not exclusively) for reconstructive surgery following cancer removal, physical trauma or to correct congenital birth defects. (Source: Centre for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing, Central University of Technology).

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South Africa's objective to create new manufacturing industries in the country has been taken a step further with the launch of the Additive Manufacturing (AM) Strategy at Bloemfontein's Central University of Technology (CUT) on 25 August 2016.

Commissioned by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), the Strategy is aimed at identifying future market opportunities and products in which AM – also known as 3D printing – technology development is required to position the country as a competitor in the global market.

Speaking at the launch of the strategy, the DST's Director: Advanced Manufacturing, Mr Garth Williams, said that additive manufacturing is a technology that straddles the current and "Fourth Industrial Revolution".