3-D Printers
Initial Publication Date: August 19, 2018
Summary
CollapseContext for Use
This application works well for principles of microeconomics, and intermediate microeconomics. Students should have studied fixed costs and variable costs before approaching the exercise. The activity will take about 20 minutes, and can be used in any class size.
3D_Printed_Items_Application (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 31kB Jun23 18)
Overview
Students will consider the future of consumer printed 3-D products,
Expected Student Learning Outcomes
In this exercise, students will learn to evaluate fixed costs, variable costs, and the factors driving a change in demand.
Information Given to Students
3D_Printed_Items_Application (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 31kB Jun23 18)
Teaching Notes and Tips
Important points to bring out during the follow up discussion:
Non-plastic inputs: In this application, it is very important to highlight the fact that input materials into a 3-D printer limit its usefulness in the home. At first, this may seem to students like a high fixed cost / low variable cost item. However, that is only true if there are simple inputs. For example, many of the currently available 3-D printers only print plastic items. Having the capacity to utilize different types of inputs (paper, metal, clay, different types of plastic, etc) may greatly increase the cost of a useful 3-D printer. In which case, it is the cost and complexity of the variable costs that may be the biggest determinant of long-run use. If the person needs to purchase many different inputs to have on hand "just in case" an item needs a different type of input, then the cost of maintaining a 3-D printer at the individual level may be high. When considering demand: how many things does a person buy that are purely plastic?
Other considerations:
- How might the environmental impact of reducing shipping costs by printing via 3-D printer be in determining consumers demand? How salient would this be for consumers?
- How many materials would a printing services company for 3-D printing (similar to Kinkos or FedEx office services) need to keep on hand in order to guarantee effective printing of most items? For example, how many different types of plastic might be necessary? How well would metals work in 3-D printing?
- How important is customization to consumers today? How might that change moving forward?
- Why haven't personal 3-D printers become popular, given that they have been around for ten years?
This could be adopted for use in intermediate microeconomics courses by having students validate their answers by drawing the cost curves for a printing services company for 3-D printing.
Non-plastic inputs: In this application, it is very important to highlight the fact that input materials into a 3-D printer limit its usefulness in the home. At first, this may seem to students like a high fixed cost / low variable cost item. However, that is only true if there are simple inputs. For example, many of the currently available 3-D printers only print plastic items. Having the capacity to utilize different types of inputs (paper, metal, clay, different types of plastic, etc) may greatly increase the cost of a useful 3-D printer. In which case, it is the cost and complexity of the variable costs that may be the biggest determinant of long-run use. If the person needs to purchase many different inputs to have on hand "just in case" an item needs a different type of input, then the cost of maintaining a 3-D printer at the individual level may be high. When considering demand: how many things does a person buy that are purely plastic?
Other considerations:
- How might the environmental impact of reducing shipping costs by printing via 3-D printer be in determining consumers demand? How salient would this be for consumers?
- How many materials would a printing services company for 3-D printing (similar to Kinkos or FedEx office services) need to keep on hand in order to guarantee effective printing of most items? For example, how many different types of plastic might be necessary? How well would metals work in 3-D printing?
- How important is customization to consumers today? How might that change moving forward?
- Why haven't personal 3-D printers become popular, given that they have been around for ten years?
This could be adopted for use in intermediate microeconomics courses by having students validate their answers by drawing the cost curves for a printing services company for 3-D printing.
Share your modifications and improvements to this activity through the Community Contribution Tool »
Assessment
If students accurately identify fixed costs and variable costs relevant to the 3-D printer, they have met the learning objectives of the application.
References and Resources
The main video relevant to this application explains what a 3-D printer is, and gives current and future applications of 3-D printing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AZzOw7FwA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5AZzOw7FwA