From food, medical equipment, aircraft spare parts, smartphones, body organs, furniture and clothing, 3D printing can be applied at almost any sphere of life to help manufacturers cut costs, boost production volumes and enhance quality of products.

"Because well designed prototypes can be accessed for free online, and the cost of materials is affordable, now is the time to use this opportunity to quickly adapt and create new products that can be used to cushion Kenyans from the current wave of job losses," Mehul Shah, chief executive of 3D firm UltraRed Technologies based on Limuru Road in Nairobi told Digital Business.

In the past four years, his company has been involved in the business of rapid prototyping, product design, computer aided engineering and 3D printing for clients.

Manufacturing of the part is mainly done with 3D printing or additive layer manufacturing technology.

Emmanuel Mutio, founder of Westlands-based 3D printing firm Nanodrex, says the 25-year-old technology is available on open source platforms and machines can read prototypes from any software.