3D-Printing: A Feasible Way to Address Supply Shortages?

Huge adaptability for the manufacturing of parts: across many industries, 3D printers are used for a wide range of purposes.

© Professional man working on 3D printer, image generated by Midjourney v6.1, July 2025

Hirschau, July 2025. Equipment downtime caused by component failure requires making the right decisions quickly, to restart production without delay. Failures caused by defective moving parts or general wear and tear of support brackets is a common risk faced by manufacturing businesses. However, while you cannot eliminate the risk entirely, you can minimise it, using a combination of quality assurance and early fault detection measures. In this context, additive manufacturing techniques can play an essential role in your spare parts management, and help you get equipment back in working order straight away.

Lack of awareness

“Additive manufacturing is no longer just a buzzword,” says Florian Ebner, a seasoned 3d-printing specialist at Conrad Electronic. “These days, it’s a valuable tool used across the industries to increase both versatility and output of the production process.” However, Ebner believes that many companies are still unaware of the benefits of the technique. “If equipment breaks down, being able to print the required spares, such as brackets, sprockets or hinges, on-site gives you a huge advantage,” explains Ebner. “Goes without saying that you need to make sure that the parts you print conform with any applicable warranty terms and intellectual property rights.” 

Benefits of additive manufacturing 

3D printers specifically aimed at the industries are extremely versatile when it comes to the manufacturing of complex parts, in terms of both materials and shapes. “SMEs tend to use more dated equipment which frequently means spare parts no longer being supplied,” says Ebner. “If a discontinued component stops working, 3d-printing is the perfect tool to get a replacement straight away.” Other upsides include getting parts that fit properly, no overly long waiting times and the option to produce spares in low numbers, especially in the event of supply bottlenecks. Overall, using 3d-printing to optimise spare part management does make sense as businesses no longer need to stock large quantities of non-standard parts, manufacturing them on an on-demand basis instead. This brings down warehousing costs and frees up capital.    

Other uses for 3d printers

Employing 3d-printers to optimise spare part management is by no means the only way to use additive manufacturing across the industries. Printing custom attachments for tools to prevent damage during installation work is another one. As is manufacturing individualised brackets and custom supports which significantly reduces the time it takes to modify equipment. Moreover, additive manufacturing simplifies retrofit updates of existing plant and machinery: replacing old plain bearings with ball bearings, and attaching mounts to hold state-of-the-art sensors are now jobs that are easily done.  

Placing orders, getting help, and everything in between

The wide range of technical supplies offered by the Conrad Sourcing Platform makes it the ideal choice in the event of equipment downtime caused by component failure. Conrad stock a vast selection of spares and testers aimed at the manufacturing and maintenance sector, and supply a huge variety of 3d-printers designed for almost any purpose. Which also includes filaments and accessories: conrad.de/materialversagen

Dare to embrace the future by using 3d-printers to manufacture more components and spares in-house? Florian Ebner, specialist and early adopter of additive manufacturing is happy to answer questions about how to choose and use 3d printers for your workplace: project.business@conrad.de