The use of additive manufacturing will grow rapidly

The town I live in is home to four companies involved with additive manufacturing: a builder of 3D printers, an international distributor of resins, a multinational consultancy, and a 3D printer of small toys.

That certainly doesn’t make the town a hotbed of AM activity. But it’s an impressive number of companies for a community of 35,000 and indicative of how the AM sector is heating up locally, nationally, and globally.

The “2018 Wohlers Report” estimates that the global AM market was $5.17 billion in 2015, $6.06 billion in ’16, and $7.30 billion in ’17.

The annual report also notes that 135 companies around the world produced and sold industrial AM systems in 2017, up from 97 companies in 2016. (These systems are defined as machines that sell for more than $5,000.) And sales of metal 3D printers rose from 983 to 1,768 units between ’16 and ’17—an increase of 80 percent.

Anecdotal evidence of metal 3D printing’s increasing popularity can be found in an article in the February issue of The Additive Report. An interviewee who was asked about these printers’ growing use replied, “If we'd had this conversation in 2007 … I think anyone would find it difficult to really anticipate how far the [use of metal printers] has come. If you go back to then, there were maybe 100 machines installed around the world.”

Numerous factors have contributed to the uptick. Among them are technological improvements that allow metal printers to be used in more production applications and the availability of less costly models.

Despite steady growth, AM as a whole represents an infinitesimal slice of the $12 trillion global manufacturing pie. The glass-half-empty view is that 3D printing will never be anything but a speck of dust on the manufacturing landscape. The glass-half-full view is that a $12 trillion market offers ample opportunity to grow market share.

Those in the 3D printing industry, including me, tend to hold the latter view. I expect the pace of AM growth to pick up. Rapidly. One reason is that smart, driven innovators are drawn to 3D printing. It’s the new frontier of manufacturing.

Another reason is big companies with big money are investing in startups. Some AM companies that have been in business fewer than five years have received millions of dollars—or even hundreds of millions—in venture capital funding.

That kind of money has a way of turning a trickle of activity into a torrent, which means additive manufacturing may be coming to your town soon. If it’s not there already.