This is a picture of a slice of a pizza, a picture without any context…
The answer to the question whether this pizza slice is printed or not is ‘yes’. Another valid question could be whether it’s edible and if so, whether it would be tasteful.
I can tell you that this pizza slice is not tasteful nor edible. It just seemed that one of my colleagues had the idea to print this lifelike slice, and apparently, he succeeded to do so.
But my point is that without digging into the whole context, one can’t draw any conclusions. Therefore, we should dig deeper into the matter and try to see or create a context that’s bigger than just the technical feasibility. In other words, if this pizza slice would be edible and tasteful, it still wouldn’t necessarily make sense to print it.
I still see a lot of organizations diving right into the technical aspects of 3D-printing (can the pizza be printed) without investigating which benefits 3D-printing could bring to their business from a more holistic perspective that also includes the economic benefits (business case).
One good practical starting point is an application or product and the challenges you are facing to produce it or to market it. It provides a bigger context and more chance to find more relevant benefits of 3D-printing.
So, challenge your 3D-printing service provider within a bigger context (application) and work your way back to technology.
In meantime, I will still order my pizzas or make them myself until someone gives me enough reasons (context) to choose for a printed version.