Recently Essentium, Inc, a leading innovator in industrial additive manufacturing (AM) solutions, released findings from their annual study that
“reveals that the use of large-scale AM has more than doubled in the past year for 86 percent (86%) of manufacturing companies.” The study is based on a series of findings from independent global research.
According to the study, “The number of companies that have shifted to using AM for full-scale production runs of hundreds of thousands of parts has increased from 14 percent in 2020 to 24 percent in 2021, and only 1 percent (1%) use 3D printing for less than ten (10) parts compared to 17 percent (17%) four (4) years ago.”
Respondents of the survey credit the increasing use of 3D printing for large-scale production primarily because of the technologies ability to:
- “Improve part performance. (55%)
- Increase design freedom (45%)
- Overcome supply chain issues (30%), and
- Lower production costs (24%).”
An overwhelming majority of the respondents (96%) believe that the manufacturing industry will save billions of dollars in production costs as the 3D printing technology matures. The respondents said that four (4) key strategic considerations for the technology to grow should include the following:
- 3D printing will integrate with existing machinery and work in practice on the factory floor (50%),
- Designers and engineers acquire specific “design for 3D printing” knowledge and techniques (39%),
- Finance teams develop a deeper understanding of cost and value implications (38%), and
- Long-term availability of materials for parts and tooling (33%).
Blake Teipel, Ph.D., CEO of Essentium, said, “Additive technology has matured to the point where manufacturers around the world can digitally print parts as they need them at speed, scale, and economics that challenge traditional methods.”
Read the entire article HERE.