Additive Manufacturing 3D Printing Trend Report: New Printing Applications Accelerate Industrial Growth

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Protolabs has published its annual 3D Printing Trend Report. The study surveyed more than 700 engineers worldwide and evaluated key industry data. It presents the current and future state of additive manufacturing.

Protolabs' trend report shows a positive mood within the market, particularly bolstered by especially small and large format 3D printing applications. The potential for additive manufacturing at the production level is also growing, as the uses of the technology go beyond just prototyping.

Key findings include:

• The 3D printing market is growing 10.5 percent faster than previously assumed

• The total volume of this market is estimated to be 25.89 billion euros in 2024

• By the end of 2028, the additive manufacturing market will reach a volume of 52.7 billion US dollars

• In 2023, 70 percent of companies printed more parts than in 2022

• 77 percent of respondents stated that the medical industry has the greatest potential for the use of 3D printing technologies.

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Additive Manufacturing: Potential for Production

The results of the study indicate that the central fields of application of additive manufacturing are increasingly evolving from prototyping to a multitude of production applications. Thus, the annual report also reveals that a steady volume of production is being served by 3D printing: The number of respondents who reported having printed more than 10 parts during the comparative period increased from 36 percent in 2020 to 49 percent in 2021 and reached a new record high of 76 percent in the current 2023 survey.

The attitude of design and engineering teams towards the interplay between additive processes and production is also changing: 45 percent of respondents named "production volume and scaling possibilities" as the main reason for preferring other manufacturing methods over 3D printing—a slight decrease from 47 percent the previous year.

Multi-material printing will have the greatest impact on 3D printing

A comprehensive selection of available materials and associated printing technologies will also play a critical role in shaping future use cases. Nearly a third of respondents indicated that multi-material printing will have the greatest impact on 3D printing, followed by hybrid manufacturing, which combines additive manufacturing with traditional manufacturing and production methods.

Future market introductions of highly specialized materials developed for 3D printing applications offer even more room for innovation, as Adam Hecht from 3DP Design Studio DIVE explains: "Currently, many companies are developing material mixes that are explicitly and exclusively adapted to additive manufacturing. The main focus is on adapting the materials to different fields of application—be it traditional thermoplastics that have been newly developed for 3D printing, or resins that are suitable not only for prototype construction, but for very specific applications with high temperatures and high elasticity."

Automatic print optimization as the most important influencing factor of AI

The excitement around artificial intelligence can be felt in almost every industry, and 3D printing is no exception. The survey by Protolabs suggests that the great expectation of a complete revolution within the industry through AI has not yet been fully realized; however, intelligent 3D printers are becoming increasingly smart, which essentially affects the user experience. Nearly a third of respondents named automatic print optimization as the most important impact factor of AI, followed by non-planar FDM printing through improved slicer software (25 percent). Additionally, respondents believe that design for additive manufacturing will benefit from AI innovations, for instance in topology optimization, multi-physics process simulation, and AI-generated CAD.

Catch-up need and opportunity for Germany

The results of the study indicate to Protolabs that the German industry and economy need to focus more on the opportunities and possibilities of additive manufacturing in order to be able to fully benefit from the technology. "The German economy—and also the industrial location of Germany—is currently under enormous pressure," explains Daniel Cohn, Managing Director of Protolabs in Germany. "We have already seen with other trending topics like artificial intelligence and digitization how quickly the industry can fall behind if key technologies—or in this case manufacturing methods - are not bravely and determinedly integrated into existing processes. Consequently, the German economy should now deal with understanding the advantages and possibilities of additive manufacturing better and pushing forward the implementation into everyday business processes."

This article originally appeared on our partner portal Konstruktionspraxis.