Alexander Lervik

Press / 2013

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THE FUTURE IS BEING PRINTED IN 3D

The breakthrough for 3D printers is here with better machines and lower prices. Alexander Lervik has worked with the technology for many years.

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Founded: 2001 Number of employees: 3 (2012) Turnover 2012: SEK 2.2 million Clients (selection): Moroso, Johanson Design, Skandiform, SAAS Instruments, Confalonieri spa, Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Cycle Europe, Assa Abloy, Absolut Company Alexander Lervik works with both industrial design and art. He is represented at Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design in Oslo, and the Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg.

Founded: 2005 The company is located in Västerås and is a global supplier of additive manufacturing services for prototype development and small-series manufacturing using the latest additive technology.

Traditionally, products have been created by sawing, filing, casting, and grinding a large piece of shapeless material into a smaller piece of shaped material. A part for a product, or a completely finished product. A 3D printer works the other way around: it builds up the final product piece by piece from nothing, by adding material in exactly the right place.

The method is called "additive manufacturing". The first 3D printers worked with plastic, but today there are printers for all kinds of materials. Various plastics, wood, glass, metals, certain types of textiles — researchers are even experimenting with 3D printing of human tissue, to be able to print human organs in the future.

In parallel with the development of the printing technology itself, 3D printers have left the laboratories. Today, numerous companies offer 3D printing for a relatively small cost, while 3D printers are available for anyone to buy for under SEK 20,000.

The objects to be printed are created in 3D software — here, the free program Google Sketchup is sufficient. An alternative is to scan an object in a 3D scanner, and then print it.

Interest in 3D printing is significant and growing steadily. According to Fredrik Finnberg, CEO of the print bureau Digital Mechanics in Västerås, the industry is growing by about 30 percent each year. Digital Mechanics started in 2005 and currently has 13 3D printers. The printers run around the clock, seven days a week — in 2012, a total of around 40,000 units were printed on the company's machines.

"The majority of the prints we make are still prototypes. This includes both functional prototypes and design prototypes," says Fredrik Finnberg.

At the same time, another type of printing is growing steadily. The type of printing is called DDM, which stands for Direct Digital Manufacturing.

"It can be grippers, pallets for machines and robots, or fixtures, but also actual components. They are printed in anything from single pieces to a thousand copies," says Fredrik Finnberg.

The print bureau's clients come from many different industries and vary in size — from lone inventors to large publicly traded companies. Finnberg explains the industry's growth by increased knowledge among both clients and producers, but also advancements in printers.

"Prices for both machines and materials are falling. That increases accessibility for companies."

In his own way, designer Alexander Lervik is a pioneer in 3D printing in Sweden. He became interested in 3D printers back around the turn of the millennium, a time when most people had not heard of the technology and would probably consider it quite sci-fi if they heard about it.

Alexander Lervik now has his own small 3D printer to print smaller models.

"I started printing small models of my furniture to see dimensions and scale. I found a place, Electrolux's old model factory, that had one of those printers," Alexander Lervik says.

At the same time, he was working on a future exhibition for Kulturhuset. In that work, there were discussions about what life would look like in 2050.

"I became more and more interested in 3D printing and started reading up on what could be done with it in the future. I started using it in various projects when the budget allowed — it was very expensive to make prints back then," says Alexander Lervik.

In 2007, he did a lighting exhibition, which was the first time he used 3D printers for actual production. Among other things, Alexander Lervik scanned his brain and made a lamp out of it.

Since then, he has used 3D printers in his work.

Today he has a small printer in the office, "one of the simplest on the market", which he uses to print small models of his furniture and tools.

Alexander Lervik Lives: In Stockholm. Age: 41 years old. Family: Elin, children Måns, Lisa, and bonus daughter Ingrid. Right now: Guest of honour at Designers' Saturday in Oslo.

"It has simplified things a lot. Previously, I have sometimes discovered errors when I received full-scale models — with the small 3D models, I see the errors early on. It becomes much cheaper," he says.

In addition, the 3D printer allows him to experiment in a completely different way. "I feel that I get better results because of that."

There are still limitations in which materials you can use, compared to traditional production. But that is not always true. The plastic used by Electrolux's model factory, for example, was the same plastic found in their regular home appliances.

Around the same time as the lighting exhibition, Alexander Lervik also started giving lectures on 3D printing to large companies.

"Even then, no one had heard about this. 98 percent were completely unaware that the technology existed," says Alexander Lervik.

It was also now that Alexander Lervik began to consider how 3D printers would reshape his own industry. In a video from 2009, some of the thoughts he had back then are preserved. In the video, he talks about how the development of 3D printers would affect society and, above all, the furniture industry over the next 20 years. Today, he notes that he underestimated the pace of development.

"Much of what I spoke about then has already happened," he says.

In the lecture, he compared the development of—

2 voices on 3D

Fredrik Nystedt, product development, SSC Klingan SSC in Skellefteå does not work with 3D printers at present. "We work with 3D CAD and skip the 3D printer step. As far as I know, 3D printers are quite limited in how large parts you can print. It's still a fairly expensive technology, and the prototypes we have, such as doors and glass sections, are large items." Fredrik Nystedt has not noticed any demand from customers for the new technology either. "Our industry may not be so quick with this. When the construction industry gets a 3D CAD drawing, they are very happy with that, so so far the requirement hasn't come from clients." But development is progressing, and the printers are becoming both better and cheaper. "If we were to use 3D printing, we wouldn't print an entire door, but maybe fittings. Maybe it could be interesting to print new fittings in plastic to test the function. This could be a technological path we might take quite soon. We are actually quite quick to adopt new technology."

Paul Johanson, co-owner, Johanson Design FURNITURE DESIGN COMPANY Johanson Design has made several 3D prints in recent years. "We have used 3D printing to some extent to make prototypes for new models. By producing miniature prototypes, we get a better feel for the product. Much better than what you can see on a regular computer screen," says Paul Johanson, co-owner of Johanson Design. The prototypes are made in scale 1:6, but in the future, printing in full scale may become relevant. Printing entire pieces of furniture, however, Paul does not think is for Johanson Design. "We work with upholstered furniture, after all, and that will be difficult to replace with 3D printing." When it comes to fears of increased copying, that is something that requires its solution. "Copying is already happening today. Of course, it becomes easier to make copies, so 3D is a threat, but also an opportunity. Development moves forward and that's positive, but it brings other side effects as well. There, one needs to seek other ways to stop it."

3dp.se Here is information for everyone interested in 3D. Here you can also read more about the AM Day in Kista on September 19. Visitors can learn about technology and materials there.

"We need to invent our own Spotify today" ALEXANDER LERVIK

—3D printers and how it will impact things to how digital music came to affect the music industry. The problems with piracy and downloading could also arrive in the furniture industry. Therefore, the industry needs to act today: more on that shortly.

But first, let us let Alexander Lervik share his view of what the future development might look like.

"The first thing that happens is that industry begins making tooling, both for plastic and wood, in printers like these. They won't be as durable tools, but they allow for smaller production runs and at a much lower cost. This is happening already today," he says.

In step two comes mass production directly in 3D printers. For now, the machines are too slow, but as soon as they become faster, this will become interesting. At the same time, more print shops will also emerge where private individuals can have their products printed.

"I myself have made jewelry in steel. Then I get them printed in the Netherlands; it takes two weeks," says Alexander Lervik.

In the third step, the 3D printer becomes a household appliance.

"People will have printers at home to some extent. But they will hardly become as common as color printers; I find it hard to imagine having an entire production facility at home," says Alexander Lervik.

Development brings a lot of different exciting effects, Alexander Lervik thinks. Among other things, transport will become redundant when things are produced locally. 3D printers might also affect how the industry functions as a whole. He believes that both producers and distributors will remain in the future, but the latter may look different than they do today.

The risk of designers and the furniture industry becoming redundant when design software and production machines become available to everyone does not worry Alexander Lervik. "Sure, it's very easy to learn this. But I think it will be just like in the graphic design industry. Today anyone can do layout, but you can see when a professional has done it," he says.

"Therefore, there will continue to be a demand for professional things, things made by people who understand strength of materials, proportions, and other factors. I even believe that professionals in the graphic design industry have more to do today than 20 years ago — accessibility has made people more knowledgeable and aware of design, and they see its value in a completely different way."

A selection of companies offering 3D printing in Sweden: ABA 3D Print GT Prototyper Swemill Modellservice Lasertech Digital Mechanics Loom

Piracy and illegal dissemination of copyrighted design is an issue that interests Lervik.

"Today, there is much talk about copies from China. When this catches on fully, it will be a hundred times worse. There are already sites on the web for sharing 3D models that can be printed, and there will surely be more. How many of these models are copied from existing products and originals, nobody knows."

When music began being shared via the web during the 1990s and 2000s, the music industry was caught off guard. Despite numerous attempts to combat copying, file sharing continues. The furniture industry still has a chance to take the initiative.

"What is needed is for us to create a Spotify for the furniture industry. We must keep up with technical development. I am convinced that there are solutions to the problems that exist," he says.

The 3D printer is no doomsday machine for the furniture industry, he asserts, but it is a matter of not being afraid of progress.

"We must not make the same mistake as the music industry. We won't be able to stop progress, which is why we need to invent our own Spotify today."

English translation of the original article. Text read from the scanned original; small transcription errors may occur.