What are the challenges of 3D Printing? (And How We’re Solving Them)
3D printing has changed the way products get made. It lets engineers turn an idea into a real part in days instead of months. But like any manufacturing process, it isn’t perfect. Every technology has trade-offs, and 3D printing is no different.
At JawsTec, we believe the best way to earn your trust is to be honest about where the challenges are and show you how we work every day to reduce them. Here’s a clear look at the main hurdles in 3D printing, and what we do to turn them into non-issues for our customers.
- Parts Can Be Weaker in One Direction Than Another
3D printers build parts one layer at a time. That means the bond between layers can sometimes be weaker than the plastic itself, especially if a part is stressed in the wrong direction.
The good news is that this is a well-understood problem, and it’s one that smart engineering can solve. By choosing the right print orientation, a part can be built to handle the forces it will face in the real world. Our team studies layer direction closely to make sure functional parts, like leaf springs, hold up under real loads. Read more in our post on Layer Line Orientation Boosts 3D Print Strength.
- Warping and Shrinking During Cooling
Plastic expands when it’s heated and contracts as it cools. If that cooling happens unevenly, a part can warp or shrink slightly out of shape.
This is why industrial machines matter. Consumer-grade printers often struggle here because they can’t control heat as precisely. Industrial systems, like the HP Multi Jet Fusion and EOS printers we use, manage temperature far more consistently across the entire building. That control is a big part of why our parts come out dimensionally accurate, print after print.
- Not Every Material Works with Every Printer
3D printing technology has grown fast, but no single printer or process can run every material. A nylon powder printer can’t print stainless steel, and a resin printer can’t print aluminum.
Rather than treat this as a limitation, we treat it as a design opportunity. JawsTec offers a wide range of proven 3D printing materials, including nylon, glass-filled nylon, thermoplastic polyurethane, resin, aluminum, and stainless steel. Our team can help match the right material and process, like MJF, SLS, or SLM, to your project’s needs.
- Surfaces Can Come Out Rough
Fresh off the printer, parts often have a slightly grainy or textured surface. For some projects that’s fine. For others, like consumer products or medical devices, a smooth finish matters.
This is where post-processing comes in. We use professional finishing equipment, including vapor smoothing, bead blasting, and polishing systems, to turn a raw print into a part that looks and feels production ready. Explore our surface finishing options to see how far apart can come after it leaves the printer.
- High-Volume Production Can Get Costly
3D printing shines for prototypes, custom parts, and small-to-mid production runs. But once volumes climb into the tens of thousands, traditional methods like injection molding can sometimes be more cost-effective per part.
We see this not as a weakness, but as a reason to offer more than one manufacturing option. Alongside 3D printing, JawsTec provides CNC machining and injection molding, so your project always has the right process behind it, whether you need one part or one hundred thousand.
- Build Size Limits
Every 3D printer has a maximum build size, so very large parts sometimes need to be printed in sections and joined together.
Our team plans for this at the design stage, splitting large geometries intelligently and assembling them so the final part performs as if it were printed in one piece. It’s a solved problem when it’s planned for early.
- Parts Need to Be Designed for 3D Printing
A part designed for injection molding or CNC machining doesn’t always translate directly to 3D printing. Wall thickness, support structures, and hole tolerances all behave a little differently in additive manufacturing.
This is one of the most common stumbling blocks for engineers who are new to the process, and it’s also one of the easiest to fix with the right guidance. Our Design Guide for Multi Jet Fusion walks through best practices, and our 3D design services team can help refine a model before it ever goes to print.
- Not All 3D Printers Are Created Equal
Desktop and hobby-level printers have made 3D printing more accessible than ever, and that’s a great thing for schools, hobbyists, and early-stage ideas. But when a business needs consistent, repeatable, production-grade parts, consumer machines often fall short on accuracy, strength, and material options.
That gap is exactly why industrial service providers exist. We dig into this difference in our post on Why Consumer FDM Falls Short for Production, and it’s also why JawsTec runs industrial-grade equipment like the HP Multi Jet Fusion 5210 and EOS P396, backed by real quality control on every order.
The Bottom Line: Challenges Are Part of Progress
Every manufacturing method, from casting to CNC machining to injection molding, has its own set of trade-offs. 3D printing is no exception. What matters is having a team that understands these challenges deeply and works every day to engineer around them.
That’s exactly what we do at JawsTec. From material selection to layer orientation to finishing, our goal is to hand you a part that’s accurate, strong, and ready for its job. If you’re ready to see what industrial 3D printing can do for your project, get an instant quote and let’s build something great together.