Xu Zisen, a designer for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in Shanghai, told China Daily that he often uses a 3-D printer.

"Earlier this year I was trained at the Samsung headquarters in Seoul, South Korea for one month from what I know there are six 3-D printers in headquarters," said Xu.

He said that while he was in Seoul, he and his colleagues would build 3-D printable files themselves and send them to people in charge of the 3-D printers.

"Building 3-D files was pretty easy as we can get help from 3-D software," he said, adding that they usually get the 3-D printed parts or models overnight.

"We printed a large variety of things, from television and mobile phone parts, to things such as vacuum tubes," said Xu. "The parts we printed may not look perfect, for example, the surface may not be smooth, but we don't care about the surface nor the color."

Being able to hold parts of the designs in his hand for scrutiny was advantageous as it allowed him to feel the product and make more intuitive observations; such as whether or not the radian of that part is consistent with their vision, and if it's not, can they modify their design and print it out again, he said.

Xu said although Samsung Electronics' office in Shanghai doesn't have any 3-D printers, they are getting their designs printed by a separate model factory. "From what I know, 3-D printing has already been widely used in the electronics design industry," he says.

Xu has been using it since 2010 while still a student in Shanghai.

Back in 2010, he would go to the factory at his own expense and use the 3-D machine to print out parts or models of his designs. He paid between hundreds to thousands of yuan for each piece.

"The larger the piece the more expensive the price will be," he said.

But Xu believes the costs were worthwhile, as before he had access to 3-D printers, all the models of his designs were handmade using "plastic foam", and as he had to scrape off materials manually, it came with limitations, like his not being able to make hollow articles.

Xu also told China Daily that he would very much like to buy his own 3-D printer, as he believes it will not only be very "cool" as a lifestyle accessory, but also because professionally he wants to print toys, small statues and other items when he pleases.

(HK Edition 10/04/2013 page4)