THE IMPACT OF 3D PRINTING
ON CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY
Gail Greatorex
Product Safety Solutions
Melbourne, Australia
Inside 3D Printing Conference
Melbourne 2015

It’s a really exciting time
in consumer products
We can all work to make it a safe time
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Consumer product safety
Focus today on:
Consumer level 3D printers
– and how they can impact
product safety
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Consumer product safety
How do we usually know products are safe?
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Typical consumer goods system
Designer – Supplier – Manufacturer –
Distributor – Retailer
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Design
 Hazard assessment
– user, environment
 Hazard recognition,
likelihood
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Compliance with regulations
 Product bans
 Safety standards for design and performance
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Residual risks
Addressed through:
 User instructions – assembly, installation,
maintenance
 Warnings
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Production specs
 Raw materials
 Production equipment
 Environment conditions
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Mass production
 Consistent output
 Enables quality assurance
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Testing
Production samples which are . . .
representative of production output
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Supply chain
 Established roles
 Clear relationships
 Contractual obligations
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Somewhere in Australia
A group of friends are about to start dabbling in
3D printing
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One of the friends . . . Kyle
Kyle acquires a consumer level 3D printer
He’s excited to explore what he can make with this
new device
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Kyle’s friend, Elly
Elly has always felt she had
untapped creative talent
She downloads some 3D print
software and starts designing some
household products
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Kyle and Elly’s friend, Simon . . .
Simon knows somebody who is importing
3D printing filament
Simon supplies Kyle with these raw
materials for a good price
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Elly has a friend who’s having a baby . . .
Elly has been invited to the baby shower. She
wants to give a teething ring as a gift, but that
seems a bit plain . . .
So she designs a teething ring with some extra
little animal shapes around it
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Kyle makes a teething ring
3D printed from Elly’s design
Elly’s friend loves the
teething ring
No-one realises the rings
contain a banned plastic
softener
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Demand for the new design
Elly and Kyle start printing more to sell online
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Kyle gets excited . . .
Now Kyle thinks there might be some money in
making toys
He finds toy designs online at 3Ddezigns.com
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. . . and over-excited
Kyle tries to speed up the printing process by
turning up the heat in his apartment
He doesn’t read the designer’s instructions about
the temperature needed to cure the finished
product
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A new and thriving business
Kyle’s Kreations Inc is off and running, selling:
 Kyle’s Keep KleenTM bath toys
 Kyle’s Krazy Kars™ toys
 Elly’s Ezi-teethe™ teething rings
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3D Printing and Product Safety
What does this story tell us?
What are the issues for consumer product safety?
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3D Printing and Product Safety
• Anyone can buy a 3D printer
• Anyone can access designs online
• . . . and vary them to suit their needs
• And supply them to others
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3D Printing and Product Safety
• Novice and untrained designers!
• Novice and untrained producers!
(prosumers)
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3D Printing and Product Safety
• Making and supplying banned
products
• Not recognising hazards and
how to avoid them
• Not providing instructions or
warnings
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3D Printing and Product Safety
• Raw materials - Quality? Consistency?
• Product output - Quality? Consistency?
• Opportunities for checks and balances
(testing, QA audits, supply chain cross-checks)?

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3D Printing and Product Safety
And these are not the only issues consumer
product safety and 3D printing
There are many more . . .
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In pairs
Discuss how you think prosumer level
3D printing can impact product safety
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In pairs
Discuss ways to address negative
product safety implications
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Consumer product safety is a big issue for
3D Printing
.
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All players have a role . . .
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Everyone . . .
. . . will need to be
alert to the issues
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Strategies for the 3DP industry
 Make consumer product
safety a priority for its growing
market
 Support and educate
customers in product safety
- including prosumers and 3D
print shops
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Strategies for the 3DP industry
 Work with product design
developers and design schools
 Monitor the safety of feedstock
and actively manage
associated risks
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White paper
White paper: 3D Printing
and Consumer Product Safety
Available free at productsafetysolutions.com.au
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Thank you
for participating
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