Using the AHP Method to Select a 3D Printer for the Manufacture of Plastic Parts

Abstract Selecting a suitable 3D printer for the manufacture of plastic parts requires a thorough evaluation of several criteria, including accuracy and resolution of printing, volume of printing, compatibility with different materials, printing speed, and reliability. In this paper, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) method is applied to compare and rank three widely recognized 3D printer brands: Bambu Lab, Creality, and Anycubic. The study assigns weights to key criteria through pairwise comparisons and calculates overall composite weights for each alternative. The results indicate that for the considered conditions, Bambu Lab ranks first with an overall composite weight of 65.50%, followed by Creality (23.15%) and Anycubic (11.33%). The findings highlight the relevance of multi-criteria decision-making methods in engineering, enabling informed selections based on structured analyses.