Researchers from麻省理工学院已经发表了一项研究，该研究建议推出美国政府支持的培训课程，以解决3D印刷劳动力中的技能差距。
该论文作为麻省理工学院的一部分发表Work of the Futureproject, urges the introduction of incentivized employee upskilling programs to help SMEs adopt AM technologies. Without significant investment in training, the team has warned that 3D printing will not be able to reach its full potential or continue to expand into new applications.
该团队在他们的研究中说：“尽管具有强大的工业潜力，但AM的实施仍受到技术成熟度和相应劳动力技能的限制。”“高技能计划可以达到双重目的，以推动AM的工业使用，同时保留经验丰富的制造工人。”
Fulfilling the potential of 3D printing
未来项目的工作由麻省理工学院设立，并得到GoogleandJP Morganin 2018, to harness recent technological advances for societal benefit. Within the program, MIT’s Haden Quinlan and John Hart were tasked with investigating how the AM workforce has coped with the industry’s progress.
In their paper, the team recognized that 3D printing has moved from a focus on prototyping into on-demand production, but also identified a skills shortage that’s slowing its advances. For the researchers, AM has reached an inflection point, at which new training courses and funding are needed, or the technology’s growth risks stalling.
美国政府，支持Oak Ridge National Laband美国制造, was singled out as being pivotal to driving 3D printing’s adoption. Given that high-volume AM still comes at a premium compared to traditional manufacturing, the team claims that additional funds are required to enable additive to compete.
Having found that areas of 3D printing such as Intellectual Property (IP) protection and material compatibility could also prove disruptive to industry growth, the MIT duo has made various proposals. The guidance is designed to facilitate the technology’s continued expansion into new industries.
重新技能添加劳动力
Despite a rise in the number of U.S.-based training courses, the researchers still consider them to be insufficient to address the shortage of qualified professionals. Statistics from the劳工统计局support the team’s analysis, showing that since 2012, manufacturing hires have fallen up to 15% below what’s needed.
为了解决3D印刷的更广泛的技能短缺，麻省理工学院对政府呼吁政府在共享研究和促进奖学金计划中发挥更大的作用。UPSKILLING现有工人也是该团队提议的核心，他们建议激励培训合同可以推动中小型企业的采用。
Overall, the skill-gaps identified by the team are similar to those of the欧盟支持的SAM调查, which urged the rapid introduction of pilot schemes.While the MIT duo opted not to highlight specific skills that were lacking, the SAM group concluded that being able to qualify materials is also becoming increasingly important.
In terms of training though, both sets of researchers agree that additional courses are required urgently, in order to better meet the industry’s staffing needs.
Is IP infringement an obstacle to growth?
研究人员还发现，随着3D扫描仪变得越来越容易获得，进入伪造的障碍已被降低。例如，引用人物Toyota Australia, the MIT pair found that more than a third of Toyota parts being sold online as ‘genuine’ in 2018, were in fact forgeries.
These fakes aren’t subjected to the same level of safety testing as the genuine articles, thus they are potentially brand-damaging to their original designers. In order to combat this potential threat, the researchers highlighted the need for a new data management standard that provides firms with better encryption security.
More significantly, the team has also called for an end to the ‘gray area’ that exists between the rights of consumers and manufacturers. As the capabilities of hobbyist users continue to grow, the duo proposes that legislative changes be made that draw clear boundaries between IP protection and the customer’s right of repair.
3D打印正在进行的IP辩论
The issue of IP protection within 3D printing has been a hot topic for some time now, with some figures in the industry calling for further regulation. Despite this, the analysis of several institutions has found that current legislation is sufficient to safeguard firms and their IP.
The UK知识产权办公室（IPO）3DPIP Futures project结论是，尽管需要进行一些澄清，但不需要迫切需要法律改革。同样，遵循European Commission report on IP, Thomas Prock of the legal firmMarks & Clerk说，就目前而言，现有的立法可能就足够了。
IP律师事务所的Jason Teng波特·克拉克森, meanwhile, has said that当前的IP框架是“装备不足”的to deal with the challenges facing 3D printing. Teng recommended the introduction of a new licensing mechanism to control the flow of additive manufactured goods.
研究人员的发现在其论文中详细介绍了“Additive Manufacturing: Implications for Technological Change, Workforce Development, and the Product生命周期,” which was co-authored by Haden Quinlan and A. John Hart.
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Featured image shows someone being taught a class on 3D modelling. Photo via EOS.
