3D printing and the future of shipping

THOSE of us who can remember the early days of the container revolution will recall its slow start, which went almost unnoticed. Then suddenly, or so it seemed, the world had changed almost beyond recognition. The once-ubiquitous general cargo ship was on a one-way trip to a breaker's beach, and purpose-built container ships took over the liner trades. More than that, the "box" transformed every aspect of transporting general cargo around the world.

I mention this because I wonder whether a similarly significant transformation has got underway again, almost unnoticed.

Recently, I received a press statement from online e-procurement portal for marine spares and equipment ShipParts.com. It is taking part in a project to find out how additive manufacturing - more commonly known as 3D printing - could revolutionise the way in which ships' spare parts are procured and delivered.

The company says digitalising procurement processes can cut order processing time for spare parts by 80 per cent, a key consideration for the marine industry, where reducing off-hire time for ships is critical.

Roy Yap, chief growth officer of ShipParts.com, foresees an even greater savings in time in the near future, with the growth of 3D printing technologies. "The technology has the potential to revolutionise the spares industry. Parts can be produced on demand, close to demand locations, bypassing the time-consuming logistics, storage, shipping and customs procedures," he said.

He refers to the "triangle" of cost, quality and speed:

Cost-wise, with current state of 3D printing technology, an individual part made by additive manufacturing is more expensive than the equivalent off-the-shelf item - "but that will certainly change in the future", he said.

"3D printed parts will be of equivalent quality; the original data from which the part is manufactured is identical, and it is possible to use a wide variety of metals and alloys, as well as plastic-based materials, in the 3D printing process."

There was another press statement in similar vein: A Berge Bulk vessel, the Berge Mafadi, has received the world's first commercial delivery of 3D printed scupper plugs under Wilhelmsen's Early Adopter Programme.

The programme was launched by Wilhelmsen's Marine Products division last December. Customers include Berge Bulk, Carnival Maritime, Thome Ship Management, OSM Maritime Group, Executive Ship Management and Wilhelmsen Ship Management.

Hakon Ellekjaer, head of Venture (3D Printing) at Wilhelmsen Ships Service, said: "We are very excited about this milestone, the completion of one of the first commercial deliveries of 3D printed parts in the maritime industry.

"This is just the beginning of the journey, and we are quickly expanding our offering, together with our key development partners, enabling our customers to benefit from the savings provided by 3D printing, digital inventory and on-demand localised manufacturing."

Wilhelmsen, in cooperation with Ivaldi Group, is providing spare parts on demand to the selected six customers' vessels around the globe. Parts in this programme are being monitored in close collaboration with class society DNV GL.

The actual 3D printing takes place in a "micro factory site" in Singapore.

Ivaldi Group chief executive Espen Sivertsen clearly thinks 3D printing of spares is going to be a big step forward: "Humble as the scupper plug may be, we believe it is a step in transforming an entire industry: By sending files rather than scupper plugs, we are, among other things, able to reduce CO2 emissions on this one part by some 54 per cent, and this gives me great hope for the possibility of a more sustainable future for supply and logistics."

If the economics of 3D printing makes it feasible to provide spares more efficiently to ships, then clearly, it is likely that there will be other and more significant applications.

If it now makes more sense to send an e-mail across the world to enable local production of spare parts, it surely won't be long before the same logic is applied to items currently sent as cargo in containers.

I do not expect everything to suddenly be made locally. But I have, for quite a while, been sceptical about the accepted wisdom that world trade will continue to grow - more or less - forever.

It is already clear that energy shipping, of oil and coal, will inevitably be hit by the need to achieve zero carbon within a few decades. In many developed countries, there is already a backlash against the current "Buy it, wear it once, throw it away" attitude towards clothes, driven by environmental concerns.

Maybe - just maybe - 3D printing may turn into another brake on world trade growth.