3D Printing Awareness - The future of making things

The advent of 3D printing is giving us new production opportunities but is creating new economic and social assets. In the paper we will analyze the new conditions we will live in. The current industrial production scenario will be analyzed to see how it works and how 3D printing is being introduced into it: where the traditional production comes from and how it actually works, from the historical, technological, social and economic point of view, including transports of materials and products. This asset is being “polluted” and possibly transformed by 3D printing: what is it, how it works, but most important, how this technology is transforming our personal approach to industrial products. This technological innovation will transform our lives, possibly even more than how movable type printing did: we will see the opportunities offered to adopt this innovation not only for our everyday life, but also looking forward for environmental issues, (e)commerce reorganization and social quality improvement. In the final part we will also see what will be the keys to open a new kind of developing path, where technology will take an important part, what relationship with it humans will have, and which will be the keys to succeed in this challenge, identifying in knowledge, awareness and culture of innovation those keys.