As the 3D printing industry matures, we can see a series of very positive developments unfolding. Today's industry is moving away from the hype and unrealistic, and really focused on getting the part "to the ground."
3D printing technology is complex and has novel ways of producing parts. Due to the nature of additive manufacturing (AM), each voxel of each printed component is unique. Instead of cutting a known block of metal, 3D printing builds with a stream of powder or jetted material. As such, the challenges facing the industry are much newer and more complex than those in other manufacturing processes. Therefore, our work on industrialized additive manufacturing, especially in metals, is far from over. Manufacturers around the world are working on this, so we're seeing more standards, more qualifications, higher productivity, and more factory-level deployments of 3D printing.
However, mass-produced metal additive manufacturing is still very rare. In this installment, the views of some of the leading experts in the field of metal 3D printing are summarized as to how the technology will develop in 2023, and the experts also mention their predictions for serial metal additive manufacturing in 2023 and beyond, The content is as follows:
3D printing development in the macro context
High inflation and commodity prices will affect how customers view labor, energy, and consumable costs when looking at AM volume production. As users become more sensitive to these elements of operating expenses, there will be a greater focus on automation and productivity, as well as the recycling of consumables. In our view, higher rates are unlikely to have a significant impact on printer purchases, although there may be more interest in upgrading rather than completely replacing systems in the field. As far as industry trends are concerned, we are likely to see increased use of additive manufacturing in the defense industry as countries increase defense spending to replenish stockpiles or improve capabilities in response to the war in Ukraine. The energy industry could also be disrupted by a faster switch from fossil fuels, which could open the door to more additively manufactured parts in the future. Overall, we see continued strong positive trends in the series production of metal AM parts.
Focus on hardware
The metal AM space is currently splitting into high-end machines with increasing size and capital costs (mainly driven by aerospace applications) and mass-market machines, which will drive low-end applications due to lower capital expenditures and associated risks Low unit cost per part is desired at a given mass.
We’re seeing huge productivity gains from machines with 8 to 12 lasers, which is driving large component production and a lot of industry growth, with Velo3D, Vulcan Forms, and Seurat being prominent examples. However, something else is happening in the industry too, and that is that more and more companies are influencing low-end metal 3D printing. Some lower-cost players are also starting to enter the industry, offering commodity components or levels of quality that will flood the industry. So the folks at New Space will have the big machines, but more general users will have access to more cost-effective printing systems. The commercialization of powder bed fusion will be a huge development for additive manufacturing.
The key enablers of maturation over the next few years are slowly but steadily occurring: falling costs due to economies of scale, education dissemination and best practice dissemination, and a foundation of standardization being established. Volume production will further mature and spread in niche and high-value markets such as rail, aerospace, and medical. High-end vehicle mass production and spare parts are likely to be the growth drivers in the coming years. The most important lesson in the field of additive manufacturing is to move beyond the technical narrative and find profitable solutions to spare parts supply chain problems.
In addition to larger machines and better equipment, the interplay of "process and material" can indeed lead to significant gains and lead to better economics by using the same equipment. That's going to really improve margins, lower component costs, and be one of the most important things impacting our industry.