Mar 8, 2016 5 min read

When Kevin Coleman pitched the benefits of using the Internet to business executives back in the mid-1990s, he recalls encountering heavy resistance when he told them someday they would be able to purchase items online and have them delivered to their homes or businesses.

At the time, Coleman was chief strategist at Netscape, the company that ultimately became the first dominant browser on the Internet.

While Netscape went on to be purchased by America Online, and later Time Warner, and soon Americans were going onto Amazon.com to do exactly what he was talking about, Coleman moved on to work at other tech-oriented companies.

The McMurray resident has spent the past two decades immersed in the rapidly changing technology landscape as a speaker, author, adviser and visionary, speaking at some of the world’s most prestigious organizations, including the United Nations, U.S. Strategic Command and Congress, as well as multiple Fortune 500 companies.

Coleman’s message on what he calls the fourth industrial revolution Thursday evening to members of Washington County Manufacturers Association was a combination of wonder and caution, a warning that making things, as everyone now knows it, is about to change abruptly.

Coleman’s topic was 3-D printing, a technology that’s been around for about 15 years but is rapidly gaining traction as a disrupter of traditional manufacturing.

Also known as additive manufacturing, the practice involves taking metal or plastic or a combination of materials and printing a part or even a fully developed product.

It’s a discipline that’s rapidly moving forward.

Last year, General Electric Corp. announced it would build a 126,000-square-foot “Center for Additive Technology Development” in Findlay Township for use by all of its manufacturing divisions that have operations in the region.

During a manufacturing roundtable at Southpointe last summer, representatives from G.E. and faculty from the metallurgy departments of Pitt and Carnegie Mellon showed parts from G.E.’s aircraft division that were cast using 3-D printing and were lighter, stronger and better-functioning than those produced using traditional manufacturing.

But it’s not just corporate giants embracing additive manufacturing.

In November, teachers from Intermediate Unit I showed WCMA members new 3-D printing equipment the educators received as part of an effort to expose students and local manufacturers of all sizes to its capabilities.

But Coleman is looking beyond the recent headlines into what’s going on with the technology globally, and what he showed in an all-too-brief 30-minute slide show was nothing short of stunning.

He showed a slide of a running shoe printed with 3-D technology that incorporates a sensor in the shoe’s sole that communicates with the Internet, relaying data about the owner’s heart rate, respiration and other health-related information.

“These sensors will help diagnose back problems based on the way individuals walk or run,” Coleman said. “They will monitor the impact and the shoe’s performance and alert the manufacturer and the owner when they need to be replaced.”

Perhaps the biggest surprise in Coleman’s slides was a photo of a house printed in China with additive technology.

“They’re printing an average of 10 houses a day in China,” said Coleman as he showed a photo of a dwelling that would be at home in any middle-class suburban neighborhood here.

Right now, the top industry segments adopting 3-D printing are aerospace, general industrial (including construction), health care, automotive and jewelry.

But customization and personalization of products will become a major feature of the technology.

Coleman sees the day when 3-D printing will be able to take someone’s DNA profile and create specific medicine for that person.

And therein lies the most disruptive aspect of the technology, as Coleman sees it.

One of the casualties will be inventories, since the design for practically anything will be stored as a file that will be downloaded to a printer as a good is needed, and matched to the type and amount of materials that will be used to produce it.

According to Coleman, 3-D printing technology disruption is expected to kill millions of jobs while creating far fewer new jobs. And most of the new ones will be for designers and those who know how to maintain the technology, he said.

Companies will have to reorganize themselves for the era when the technology will displace many hard assets and the need for large warehouses for storing inventories will become obsolete, he said.

Many business leaders are beginning to think about that time.

Coleman said a recent survey of business executives found 76 percent of those who participated believe the technology disruption in their industry will be moderate or greater.

The forward thinking will be critical, Coleman said, as business becomes more digitized.

“The manufacturing industry must define what this digital reality really means to them and make the most of it,” he said.

What companies need to be asking themselves in light of emerging technologies is a simple, but challenging, question.

“Are you a leader, a fast follower or being pushed aside?” he asked.

Michael Bradwell is business editor for the Observer-Reporter.