3D printing technology will be popularized and applied to toy manufacturing

Cars driving on the highway, Chenghai District, Shantou City, which enjoys the reputation of 'Toy CityIn the middle of the district, it can be seen almost everywhere. The difference is that the fashionable new word '3D printing' has emerged in this small town this year-every stretch of the road, there is a factory with a '3D printing' sign. 'It's just a new bottle of old wine. 3D printing is not new. Someone has used it a long time ago.' During the visit, Mr. Lin, who runs several 3D printers, opened the conversation, and the reporter was suddenly full of doubts: Americans can print cars and guns. Has the Chinese people already mastered the technology? After listening to the news about 3D printing from the reporter, Boss Lin laughed: 'That level is not good, but printing a few toys is not a problem. This technology is definitely not an exotic product. We used to call it'rapid prototyping' a few years ago. Some people use it. No, this year everyone changed to '3D printing' signboards, and I also follow the fashion.' Mr. Lin introduced that 3D printing technology has not been popularized in Chenghai in the past few years. Some smart manufacturers have imported equipment from other places. Made some money by making plastic toy models for the toy factory. Boss Lin caught up with the trend at that time. Chenghai District, Shantou City, in the eastern part of Guangdong Province, has toy industry and woolen garment industry as its pillar industries. Toy manufacturing occupies an important position in the region’s economy. Aofei Animation (002292, shares) and Huawei shares (002502, Stock bar), Qunxing Toys (002575, share bar), Xinghui Car Model (300043, share bar) and many other toy-related listed companies. 'Toy manufacturers make a batch of toys to make a model for the customer. To make a model, a toy factory must first make a set of molds. Generally, it costs tens of thousands of dollars to open a mold from a professional mold company. . Sometimes the more picky encounters with customers, or the design is flawed, you have to redo.' Boss Lin poured a cup of Kung Fu tea to the reporter and continued to talk about the family history. 'Later, the old Wang's house in the neighboring village got a machine and said it could directly make a model. It was quite novel. I went to see that the equipment was not big, just a needle turned around automatically, and the melted plastic was removed from the needle. Spray it out and make a toy model according to the drawings in the computer. I asked, Lao Wang, this is a model for a certain toy factory. The drawing is a design drawing provided by the toy factory. The model is made for several thousand yuan. In fact, the cost is not high, only plastic consumables, but the equipment at that time was a bit more expensive, with 78,000 domestically produced units. I figured it out and thought it was a good deal, so I made two of them and made them at home.' Boss Lin said enthusiastically. Later, as the business grew, a few more units were purchased.　　 However, like most industries in China, as long as it makes money and has no technical barriers, it will soon be full of competitors. 'It's not so easy to do now.' Boss Lin said with emotion: 'On the one hand, the price of the equipment has dropped. You can get one from 20,000 to 30,000 or even less than 10,000. Many people are doing it, and the wages are very heavy. On the other hand, many big toy factories have bought equipment to make them themselves, and no longer outsource them.” Of course, 3D printing can’t completely replace traditional toy mold manufacturing, nor can it replace traditional toy manufacturing factories. Boss Lin explained that the current 3D printing equipment on the market can only make ordinary toy models, and some complex and delicate parts cannot be made. In addition, it often takes half a day or even longer to print a toy, which is inferior to the traditional craftsmanship where multiple pieces can be copied indefinitely at a time.　　 'Currently, 3D printing can only be used to print models or small batch production.' Boss Lin said that he himself never thought about opening a factory that relies on 3D printing technology to make toys.