A child’s life was saved when a 3D printer produced a replacement windpipe.

In China and The Netherlands, giant 3D printers are used in home construction, cutting costs dramatically.

The body and chassis of a 3D-printed plastic car, the Strati, was produced in just 44 hours (non-printed items such as engine, seats, and steering wheel were later added).

NASA builds tools in outer space to perform chores on its space station.

Hershey is 3D printing edible chocolate treats.

The list grows daily. Although the jaw-dropping developments are in bio-medical applications, you don’t have to deal in replacement bodily organs to capitalize on 3D printing technology.

With INKGILITY’s help, possibilities now exist that were never before imagined in small business. Prototyping, modeling and artistic rendering are three processes performed quickly and cheaply via 3D printing, placing them within reach of entrepreneurs.

But there are even items that can be directly manufactured via 3D printing, some visible in the accompanying collage.

Not just 3D printing but also designing 3D models is the latest service available from the world’s most innovative marketing company. Yes, the endless possibilities afforded by die-cut business cards just expanded – for business cards and just about anything else.

What’s termed “3D printing” is more precisely “additive manufacturing.” We’re familiar with the application of ink or powder onto paper in 2D printing. A 3D printer works from a three-dimensional software file, which we can develop to your specifications.

Once the file is sent to the 3D printer, a laser creates a layer of material and then fuses it. It then creates another layer, and fuses it. It keeps putting down layer upon layer and fusing until the object depicted in the software is formed.

Presto. You have in minutes what formerly would have taken days, or in hours what would have taken weeks – if even feasible previously.

Packaging, smartphone cases, 3D business cards, and prototypes of various products can be 3D printed. Lower prototype and production costs, more flexible manufacturing, and better branding on packaging or promotional items are just some of the 3D bonanza.

Hopefully, the technology has become easier to grasp, and you’re getting some ideas of how it can streamline your enterprise, and boost productivity? We can help you take baby steps, until you’re ready for a giant leap into 3D.

Follow this link for more extensive ideas and industry-specific application of 3D printing available from INKGILITY.

Those who remember the Internet as a tool of the military and academia before its explosion among the masses have no trouble envisioning the emergence of 3D printing.

The process of fabricating solid objects from digital models has existed for decades. It may soon change the way all of us do business.

To get a better idea, Inkgility has surveyed some best practices of 3D printing in small business applications. Hardly a full menu, more of an appetizer, but sure to whet your appetite, consider the following:

Unleash your inner fashion designer! A novelty of the rich and famous is soon to be the ready-to-wear norm. Inkgility can get you onto the foreground of a fashion revolution.

Designers call “computational fashion.” But it’s more than just a method of design because it allows you to do things you couldn’t do through standard fabrication processes; things that are too intricate for the hand, down to tenths of a millimeter in size.

You may not even be in the fashion business currently. But 3D printing lowers the entry barrier considerably.

Got a pair of shoes you like but would like better if they were tweaked her or there? Add your touch(es) and get with our designers. Although you may start out on Etsy or Pinterest, you could be the next Louie Vitton of Alexander McQueen.

Gadgets are everywhere, doing everything. From smartphone covers, tablet cases, computer mice and most small, lightweight plastic products, 3D printing makes prototyping (and even manufacturing, in some instances) a streamlined operation compared to decades gone by.

Patrick O’Neill is one entrepreneur who several years ago put a jolt into Carpe Diem, founding a company he called Olloclip. The flagship products are 3-in-1 and 4-in-1 snap-on lenses for iPhone cameras.

In a recent web-posted interview, O’Neill was asked about his product development.

“I had the concept in my head of how to do it, and then I had a friend who’s an industrial designer and we worked together for a year – making hundreds of prototypes – to find the exact best way to do this,” O’Neill explained. “We used 3D printing and we printed all these prototypes and just tested and tried to dial it down to the essence of what’s the best way to do this.”

Hundreds of prototypes are more feasible in 3D printing than contracting with a machine shop.

But not every product need be as intricate as a set of camera lenses.

Inkgility can be your prototype shop. With certain products, it could even become your manufacturer.

Are your fingerprints etched inside the wedding band of your spouse? Is your replicas of objects important to you? Maybe it’s even a sports team logo or replica of its mascot?

Personalization is the core ideal of jewelry, an adornment that showcases your uniqueness. Consider the popularity of the tattoo industry to grasp this appeal.

And 3D printing technology brings jewelry customization within reach of the masses.

At the high end, 3D printing produces a digitally designed, precisely proportioned thermoplastic wax mold. Once hardened, metal is poured into the mold and a jeweler sets any gemstones that are included in the design.

A jeweler with a blowtorch is becoming an artifact of a bygone era, just like a blacksmith or a typesetter.

Other fashion accessories – such as bracelets, necklaces, pendants, earring, cufflinks – may come straight from a 3D printer loaded with filaments and metal.

The hallmark of innovation is realized – quicker turnaround and lower prices.

Here are just a couple of entrepreneurial initiatives to stoke your imagination:

Polychemy, a Singapore-based company launched by a 25-year-old, tracks Google searches – perhaps through keyword planner – to gauge specific jewelry demand.