3D printing is still a relatively new technology in the world of manufacturing. Its unique ability to produce smaller quantities at competitive rates makes it well suited for lower-volume production. Not to mention, it is able to produce parts with unique geometries which would be difficult to craft using a mold. But something has kept 3D printing from dominating larger industrial processes: the amount of labour required per unit produced. In order for 3D printing to be a viable solution for larger operations, there needs to be a way to decrease the labour required while maintaining (or increasing) output.

So, how can we do that?

By identifying the manual interactions required throughout the printing process, and developing a system that eliminates the manual aspect. In short, automation.

The Viability of 3D Printing

At first, 3D printing was relatively slow and DIY-oriented. Industry-oriented companies like Stratasys or Ultimaker had their place, but even industrial printers required an enormous amount of, for lack of a better word, tinkering to get them running smoothly. If 3D printing was going to become commonplace in manufacturing, more reliable machines with higher output was needed.

Faster Printers = More Labour

OEMs responded to the demand for faster and more reliable printing by upping their maximum print speeds, building in tools such as auto-bed levelling (ABL) and filament runout sensors, and tweaking machine design to optimize reliability. Some, like Bambu Lab, managed to do so while maintaining a consumer price point.

While these improvements certainly helped to increase the capacity of 3D printers, the higher print speeds linearly increased the amount of labour required. Where before you could print 4 parts per day, you can now print 8, which means twice as many trips to the printer and twice as many filament changes.

For 3D print farm owners without a background in manufacturing, this problem often goes unnoticed until a certain number of printers is reached, at which point the workload becomes unbearable. Those who are familiar with manufacturing however recognize the issue for what it is: the amount of labour per unit produced is too high. Phrased another way, the printing process is not efficient enough.

Increasing Efficiency

Efficiency can be increased in one of two ways:

1. Produce more units with the same resources (time, equipment, etc.).
2. Reduce resources used while maintaining productivity.

Ultimately, combining these two approaches will wield the most dramatic results, but today our focus is on decreasing labour - reducing our resource expenditure while maintaining productivity. This requires: (1) examining our current process for inefficiencies and (2) reducing or eliminating these inefficiencies, with a particular focus on labour. To do so, we’ll go through the most basic operational touchpoints with the goal of finding a less labour-intensive alternative for each.

Operational Touchpoints

For each print job, the operator must: (1) load the correct filament, (2) start the print by either walking an SD card over to the printer or sending it via an integrated app, then (3) remove the print once completed. Many operators also like to monitor the first layer of the print for issues, as this is one of the most common places where errors occur.

For these four touchpoints, even if each step takes just one minute, a 20 printer farm with 4-hour prints would spend over 5 hours per day of labour (20 printers x 6 prints per day x 4 minutes per print). In our experience, each step takes closer to 5 minutes, with the minimum being 3; this would end up totalling 30 hours of labour per day.

So how do we reduce the labour associated with these touchpoints?

Reduce Labour

Filament Changes

Loading filament is a relatively manual process, which cannot be entirely eliminated; what can be done is reducing the number of filament changes required. There are two strategies to accomplish this: (1) increase the amount of time between filament runouts; (2) optimize your schedule to minimize swapping colours/materials.

Increasing the time between filament runouts is relatively simple: increase the spool size you’re using. We often recommend that 3D print farms use 5kg spools rather than 1kg, as it saves a significant amount of human time. The introduction of Bambu Labs’ AMS system provides an alternative to this solution: load five 1kg spools at one time. Either way, hours each week are saved as the frequency of spool changes go from every couple of days to once a week or less.

Optimizing your schedule to reduce filament switching is slightly more complicated. Many operations tend to load files as orders come in, or as needed to maintain stock, without paying much mind to scheduling things in advance. Ideally to reduce filament switched you’d want to look at all your upcoming print jobs, then schedule all the red PLA prints to go to Printers A and B, the white PETG prints to go to printers C-F, the black PLA prints to go to printers G-L, so on and so forth. Instead, what tends to happen is the first red one is printed on Printer A, but then when it’s done printing the next in the queue is blue or black, so the spool is changed to accommodate this. Here is where automation comes in.

Scheduling jobs based on printer parameters like material, colour, nozzle size, printer model, etc., can be entirely automated using intelligent workflow automation software like AutoFarm3D. Instead of you spending time scheduling print jobs or constantly switching filament, this software matches print jobs to printers and dispatches them as soon as a printer is idle. Effectively, this balances the load across your print farm, reduces labour associated with extraneous filament changes, and increases uptime as printers do not sit idle waiting for you to change their spool.

Starting Prints

For many years, operators would add a file to an SD card, put it in the printer, select the number of iterations they wanted to print, and hit “Go,” removing each print when it was done. Some still do this, while others follow a similar process using an app. This isn’t the worst workflow in the world, but it’s also most certainly not the most efficient. If you need 30 prints done by tomorrow, you shouldn’t have to risk putting them all on one or two printers (risk because if one fails the others get held up) and you shouldn’t have to click send 10, 20, or 30 separate times if you want them each to print on different printers.

Really, you want to be able to choose a print, set the quantity, and have that print job get done in the most efficient way - whether that means sending it to 5 printers or 30. If one of the prints fails, you don’t want the others to be held up behind it. Instead, you want them to keep being sent to other printers until they are completed. In short, you want a central and automated print job dispatch system, what we call a central smart queue.

Removing Parts

The most talked-about operational touchpoint in 3D printing is, without a doubt, part removal. Having to walk over to the printer and pry off a part has long been most 3D printing enthusiasts' least favourite part of the printing process. And for good reason - it’s inevitable that things get hung up when printers rely on people to clear them before they can move on to their next print.

Automated part removal has taken many forms: robotic arms, ejecting beds, conveyor belt printers; none of these have really taken off, and all introduce additional hardware (which introduces a number of potential failure points).

Our approach is much simpler - we use a special print surface called VAAPR (Variable Adhesion for Automatic Part Release) that has incredibly high adhesion when hot but essentially none when it is cooled down. This allows us to use the printer’s hardware (the hotend block to be exact) to gently push the part off. By the time the bed has cooled to 29ºC, there is so little adhesion that the print can be pushed off by a feather (we’ve tried it!). This way, prints are reliably and continuously removed by the printer itself without any risk to the machinery.

First Layer Inspection/Monitoring

A number of tools exist today for automatic print failure monitoring, such as Bambu Lab’s built-in first layer inspector or our very own QuinlyVision AI-driven failure detection system which is built in to AutoFarm3D.

Utilizing tools like these can help you catch issues without requiring a human to be watching every single print begin. Not only does this save labour, but AI can sometimes catch issues earlier than us, especially if we are relying on USB or built-in cameras, which can be very low resolution. Tools like these are already at our disposal, and using them can further reduce the number of operational touchpoints in our 3D printing production.

Tying It Together

By decreasing labour and systematically replacing it with machine-driven, automated processes, 3D printers become more cost-effective and competitive in the manufacturing sphere. The shift toward automated 3D printing represents more than just an operational upgrade—it's a strategic move toward future-proofing your manufacturing capabilities. By implementing solutions like larger spools, intelligent scheduling systems, automated part removal, and AI-driven monitoring, you can dramatically reduce labor costs while increasing output and reliability.

We've seen manufacturers reduce their operational labor requirements by up to 70% through these automation strategies, allowing them to redirect staff toward higher-value activities and scale their operations more efficiently. The question isn't whether to automate your 3D printing operation, but how quickly you can implement these changes to stay competitive.

Ready to explore how automation can transform your 3D printing operation? Schedule a personalized consultation and receive a custom implementation plan tailored to your specific production needs.