The 3D printing industry has experienced consistent and stable growth over the past decade, disrupting multiple industries including healthcare, transportation, and construction. One of the main advantages of 3D printing is the fact that it builds parts from the ground up, in a layer-on-layer process -- hence, why it is known as “additive manufacturing”. By applying automation techniques to the process and artificial intelligence (AI) technology to help design the parts, innovators are now able to make better products, faster.
In healthcare, 3D printing offers new ways to produce not only prosthetics, implants, and artificial limbs, but also replacement bones, tissues, and vessels that are tailored-made to fit the patient. For example, scientists have the ability to scan a human body and 3D-print a part that is specifically designed for that body, resulting in better patient outcomes while saving time.
In aerospace, an industry that also requires highly complex, low volume parts, and in which weight reduction is the holy grail (in addition to safety), 3D-printing is assuming an increasingly important role. That’s because every kilogram saved in plane components prevents 25 tons of CO2 emissions during the lifespan of an aircraft. Parts produced with 3D printing weigh up to 55% less while reducing raw material used by up to 90% for the manufacturer, improving its margins. In turn, the weight reduction can generate great savings in fuel burn, which translates to higher profit margins for a carrier, given that fuel costs are one of the largest most variable airline expenses, accounting for 15-20% of total expenses.
Meanwhile, several companies are leveraging 3D printing to build homes in record time, and believe it provides a means to create more affordable housing in the future. An Austin-based company called Icon has built the US’s first officially permitted 3D-printed houses, and seeks to reduce the cost of homebuilding by 50%. The company’s Vulcan, an industrial-scale 3D printer, works by extruding inch-thick layers of a special concrete mix fed in from a separate machine, much like a giant tube of toothpaste. Icon programs its home designs ahead of time to make the operator’s job as simple as possible. “Once these two machines are set up on a job site, you download an app and you’re off to the races,” says Icon’s co-founder Alex Le Roux.
3D Printing Boom in the Making
What’s been achieved thus far in the 3D printing space is just the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, 3D printing, whose potential is still mostly untapped, will be playing a much greater role in manufacturing going forward, thanks in part to COVID-19. That’s due to a recent shift in how manufacturing companies are thinking about their supply chains in the wake of the coronavirus.
China is the hub of the global manufacturing value chain, and a slowdown in the country’s production during its lockdown resulted in losses of around $50 billion in global exports. This affected not just manufacturers around the world whose supply chains are dependent on primary or secondary suppliers based in China, but also non-manufacturing businesses that suffered from the residual impact of that disruption.
In response, there’s now a heightened sense of urgency to bring work closer to a product’s end market in a low-cost way, which is prompting many companies to accelerate productivity investments. This shift has enormous positive implications for the 3D printing industry and comes at a time when the technology is entering the mainstream. Today, it is a $16 billion market that’s projected to grow to $41bn by 2024, according to Wohlers Associates annual report on the global 3D printing industry.
However, if the next frontier for 3D printing is in functional end-use applications and mass production, as some experts believe to be the case, the coming shift could propel the industry to a $95bn market over the next five years. As explained by Tasha Keeney, an analyst for the thematic fund ARK Invest, 3D printing today is mostly used for prototyping, which itself is a $12bn industry globally. The market for end-use parts -- the parts that go into the final product -- is a $500 billion opportunity and it is only 1% penetrated by additive manufacturing currently. This leaves a massive greenfield space for 3D printing to tap into.
The bottom line is that 3D printing could be on the cusp of a boom if manufacturers in the United States and Europe follow through with plans to bring their supply chains closer to home and as they evaluate the cost savings that can be achieved. Once that starts to happen, companies that don’t join the shift to 3D printing face the risk of becoming less competitive. |
