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Document Type General
Publish Date 24/09/2020
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Published By MDPI
Edited By Saba Bilquis
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A REVIEW OF 3D PRINTING IN CONSTRUCTION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE LABOR MARKET IN USA

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Document Type: General
Publish Date: 2020
Primary Author: Md. Aslam Hossain, Altynay Zhumabekova, Suvash Chandra Paul and Jong Ryeol Kim
Edited By: Saba Bilquis
Published By: MDPI

The construction industry is very labor-intensive and one of the major sources of employment in the world. The industry is experiencing low productivity with minimum technological innovations for decades. In recent times, various automation technologies including 3D printing have received increasing interest in construction. 3D printing in construction is found to be very promising to automate the construction processes and have the potential of saving laborious work, material waste, construction time, risky operation for humans, etc. There has been a comprehensive body of research conducted to understand the recent advances, future prospects, and challenges of the large-scale adoption of 3D printing in construction projects. Being one of the labor-intensive industries, this study also investigates the possible impact on the labor market with the `increasing adoption of 3D printing in construction. It is found that 3D printing can reduce a significant number of laborers which can solve the labor shortage problem, especially in countries where construction is heavily dependent on immigrant workers. In contrast, 3D printing might not be favorable for countries where construction is one of the main workforces and labor is less expensive. Moreover, 3D construction printing will also require people with special skills related to this new technology.

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