The annual 3D Printing Industry review of the year has more insights from additive manufacturing and 3D printing experts than ever.
We invited the leaders in our industry to tell us about the most important issues, events, and trends of 2018.
Arno Held, Chief Venture Officer, AM Ventures
Next to being awarded Investor of the Year 2018 by 3D Printing Industry readers, for AM Ventures, the most important event clearly was FormNext in Frankfurt. Gigantic booths, more big names entering the industry, the shifting focus towards large scale manufacturing of applications showed impressively how our industry has matured. This, of course also sets high expectations for the coming years.
Arno Held AM Ventures Holding GmbH
Vyomesh Joshi, President & CEO, 3D Systems
For me, it’s amazing to look back at more than a generation of manufacturing to see the value 3D printing delivers to the manufacturing process. What started as an enabler for prototyping is now finding its place in production environments. 3D production is truly real. Today millions of “invisible” parts are printed: sacrificial tools that never see the light of day. Hundreds of thousands of dental models are produced yearly.
There are countless wax casting patterns for jewelry, engine parts, and other metal parts in many industries. 3D printed clips, jigs, and fixtures are used in factories around the world. We are seeing additive manufacturing produce parts with excellent properties from metal alloys or industrial plastics in volume. The progress of the past year is positioning the 3D printing industry for incremental, intentional digital innovation, based on the four pillars of progress: productivity, durability, repeatability, and total cost of operation.
3D Systems CEO VJ, 3D Printing for Industry. Photo by Michael Petch.
Kevin McAlea, Executive Vice President, General Manager, Metals & Healthcare, 3D Systems
The significant advancements in direct metal printing this year have redefined how manufacturers think about and operate their manufacturing environments. We’ve reached a point where manufacturers can confidently produce 3D printed parts with excellent properties from traditional metal alloys that are better or as good as conventionally manufactured parts. New innovations through integrated technologies have led to faster print speeds, optimized workflows supported by unprecedented automation and the ability to create larger, custom metal parts that industries like Aerospace require. Additionally, the ability now exists to certify and validate parts and printers in regulated industries. This is a major breakthrough allowing AM to not only enter advanced manufacturing segments, but to be very successful.
Alex Ziff, CEO, 3D Compare
2018 has been a great year for 3dcompare.com even though we are still in the early stages we have seen a great increase in our on-demand manufacturing platform. In 2019 we see that on-demand manufacturing will increase due to new technologies and development in this area. We cannot disclose much of our behind the scenes work with our customers and manufactures but we believe 2019 is when the mass public will be able to join the on-demand manufacturing era.
Atha Ur Rahman Khan, Program Manager Entrepreneur for Additive Manufacturing, and Dr.Jan Radtke, VP of New Business Accelerator, Cyient
Some of the key challenges in 2018 were the high cost of 3D printing machines, lack of standards for design and qualification and the shortage of trained talent but we have seen that there is progress made on all these 3 fronts to address the challenges.
The cost of 3D printers still remains high which is the largest component of an additively manufactured product. But the dynamics are rapidly changing, with new players entering the market and existing players launching more competitive offerings, we believe the cost of 3D printers will come down.
On the standards for 3D printing, tremendous progress has already been made in establishing standards by agencies such as ASTM and ASME. We hope to have official standards released within the next couple of years.
Lastly, leading research universities are coming out with courses in additive manufacturing for students as well as professionals. In addition, there are several consortia are being established to promote industry academia partnership. Cyient is also a part of Carnegie Mellon’s Next Manufacturing Consortium. We hope these joint efforts would help accelerate the adoption of additive manufacturing technology.
Phil Schultz – Senior Vice President, General Manager, On Demand & Plastics, 3D Systems
Across the plastic 3D printing industry, we’ve seen a tremendous number of advancements in production applications of the technology. Digital Factory solutions now exist which enable manufacturers to accomplish the entire product development process – from prototyping to production – on one platform. And these same solutions rival injection molding, with the ability to build in surface texturing with improved accuracy and repeatability, faster time-to-part and overall lower total cost of operation.
There have also been tremendous advancements in the Digital Foundry. Additive manufacturing solutions are now available that enable investment casting professionals to produce patterns in a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional pattern production. Typical production time for a 3D printed wax pattern is a few hours or less; no time or money is wasted on an injection molding process for traditional pattern tools. The potential also exists for significant cost reductions for initial patterns when the cost of traditional injection molding tooling is taken into account. It’s one more example of the transformative power of additive manufacturing.
Rik Jacobs, Vice President, General Manager, Dental, 3D Systems
Over the past several years, dental professionals have been watching and evaluating 3D printing technologies, determining when the right time would be to integrate them into their workflow. In 2018, we reached that tipping point and have seen how additive manufacturing is redefining digital dentistry. Many early adopters have embraced production 3D printing solutions that combine materials, technology, software and services that offer compelling benefits in terms of time and cost efficiency, better accuracy over conventional methods, and high predictability of results. One such example is 3D Systems’ NextDent 5100™ that addresses the largest number of indications from one platform, with the industry’s broadest material portfolio and unprecedented ease-of-use. Additionally, we’ve seen partnerships among solution providers that integrates technology seamlessly into existing dental workflows. These advancements are enabling dental labs and clinics to produce dental devices faster and more economically with lower total cost of operation.
Rik Jacobs, vice president, general manager of dental solutions, 3D Systems at the 2018 3D Printing Industry Awards.
Romain Kidd, CEO, MyMiniFactory
Sub-$1k full colour 3D printing (xyz), first year with 1m+ desktop 3D printers sold, the Google Trends curve for Ender 3, over $100k redistributed to independent designers on MyMiniFactory.
Jon Bruner, Director of Digital Factory, Formlabs
2018 has been a very active year for 3D printing. While the underlying technologies have been stable, the field of potential applications has grown thanks to innovation in materials, software, and surrounding business models. We’ve seen several completely new mass customization applications in medical, dental and consumer packaged goods, with big brands like Gillette creating new product lines driven by personalization. We’re particularly excited about the continued quickening pace of material improvements that enable end-use 3D printing as well as a wide variety of hybrid processes like investment casting, injection molding, vacuum forming.
Neil Hopkinson, Director of Technology, Xaar 3D
The festive period is one in which many take the opportunity to reflect and to be thankful for what we have and to ensure we don’t take things for granted.
It is therefore rather timely to note that the most significant trend that I noticed in 2018 was one that many of us in this community have started to take as a given – namely the unabated growth of the industry. There are many barometers for this growth such as the annual revenues for products and service that once again grew by over 20% year on year or the impressive number of new entrants from start-ups to well established global corporations that have entered the market with serious levels of commitment.
Beyond these measurable aspects, this year in particular I sensed a feeling of industry growth when attending some of the industry events (AMUG, 3D Printing Industry Awards, Formnext as some examples) where the level of attendance, deep engagement and “the buzz” were at a palpably elevated level compared with previous years.
Xaar’s “Little Blue” beta HSS 3D printer. Photo by Beau Jackson
Michael Seal, Business Development Manager for Advanced Manufacturing and 3D printheads, Xaar Plc.
What has struck me the most over the course of 2018 is the creativity to solving Additive Manufacturing problems. Where originally there were several core 3D printing and Additive Manufacturing solutions and derivatives thereof, rather than follow the “me too” trends so often commonly found in other industries, the sector continues to create novel methods to address the market.
formnext 2018 was one of the most interesting, engaging and busy shows I’ve attended in a very long time. The level of enthusiasm in this sector shown by the show visitors was infectious.
André Thiemann, Global Head of Applications, SLM Solutions Group AG
2018 was the year of change in the AM industry as we truly start to see developments mature from prototyping into serial production. Only a few years ago we were starting with select applications, but we are crossing the threshold into scaling to serial production. This trend was apparent at formnext as we presented more complete solutions realizing that machine performance is not the only consideration in the market anymore, rather the rate of integration. The question moving forward is how we integrate AM into the current process chain, which requires considerations from both the software and hardware side.
Greg Mark, CEO, Markforged
Manufacturers are increasingly finding places where 3D printing has a positive ROI — today — in parts of their business that matter. Many used Markforged this year to prove out that ROI in creating tools and fixtures. Other companies had success in other pockets of value. It’s no longer an exploration of emerging technology. Now it’s simply about applying 3D printing in places where it saves manufacturers money and enables them to move faster.
Dr. Kaj Fuehrer, CEO, enter2net.com AG
After increasing the machine based productivity and bringing more and more materials for industrial usage into the machines (like PA12 and Ti64) one trend is the integration of additive manufacturing in the company processes. This includes the implementation of automatized production concepts and their integration by new software solutions in the overall digital process chain. These software solutions need to address productivity, reproducibility and security.
Joseph Crabtree, CEO, AM Technologies
The most import trend for the industry was the increasing aggressive demand for speed, cost reduction, and performance of end-use parts. A lot more attention is finally being placed on the unlocking potential that post-processing innovation has on the adoption of 3D printing and its transition to industrial production.
For an industry that calls itself disruptive we are post processing parts the same way we did 100 years ago. At AMT we find that to be insulting. In 2019, we are poised to set the industry’s gold standard on sustainable post-processing solutions and challenge other companies that call themselves innovative to change their methods of make.
Dayton Horvath, Principal, NewCap Partners
2018 saw some trends mature and some kick-off despite long delivery horizons. High performance thermoplastics are now a competitive printable materials segment in material extrusion, and notably faster digital light projection systems have been demonstrated. New announcements have focused on metal 3D printers, whether it is continued advancement in direct energy deposition, or the latest printer announcements from HP and Stratasys. A production focus was set in 2018. It’s up to the next three years and the leading additive companies to deliver on their promises.
Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President, Mesago Messe Frankfurt GmbH
The intensive days of Formnext are my highlight in 2018 – what else can I say? 632 exhibitors on more than 37,000 square meters in a full and buzzing Hall 3 where around 27,000 visitors from all over the world and we as organizers experienced incredible progress and innovations that additive manufacturing is currently achieving in industrial applications.
The future of manufacturing was literally palpable on the two levels of the hall. My personal highlight at Formnext is the growing and interacting community, this special feeling of immersing yourself in the world of AM when you enter the hall and have contributed a part to it.
This sense of togetherness and the desire of everyone in this industry to carry on and develop AM as a Life Changing Technology is simply indescribably good and motivating for everyone involved.
Dean Franks, Head of Global Sales, Additive Manufacturing, Autodesk
In 2018, we saw more focus on software tools that enable greater speed, reliability, efficiency and quality, as well as an increased collaboration between software and hardware. At Autodesk, our Netfabb software saw improvements to simulation and latticing, cloud storage and new machine workspaces, and 2018 saw the deepening integration of generative design into the AM Workflow with our in-canvas Fusion 360 Experience.
Aleksander Ciszek, cofounder and CEO, 3YOURMIND
If there’s one take-away from Formnext 2018, it’s that the entire industry wants to move to serial additive manufacturing. And the first stones have been laid: with the announcement of BMW producing AM-serial metal brackets for the I8 Roadster in 60-70,000 parts, it’s clear that businesses will soon be producing items in the thousands rather than focusing on prototyping. .
Machine operators are opening up their machines and making their APIs available. There is an increasing focus on quality instead of quantity. EOS’s stand was a good example of how production speed is not the only thing manufacturers are looking for – reliability and repeatability are actually the major tests for successful AM series production.
Having anticipated this shift for some time, our software infrastructure provides automatic production scheduling, repeatable order sequences, direct connections for ordering and tracking with ERP systems, and direct machine integrations. The market is ripe for a seismic shift, and our software systems for series additive manufacturing are already in place for this new era of manufacturing.
Xavier Martínez Faneca, CEO, BCN3D Technologies
In 2018 we’ve seen a clear standardization of dual extrusion technology for professional desktop machines. We’ve been working with dual extrusion since 2015 thanks to the innovative IDEX system and this year, thanks to the feedback received by our users, we’ve taken the technology to the next level with the new Sigma & Sigmax R19 models.
For the first time, our products allow printing with both heads simultaneously, and consequently, double production capacity. We’ve also equipped the new models with leading components in the industry, creating an even more reliable product.
Finally, all this is not enough without taking into account a basic pillar and in which we’ve worked substantially this year: offering the best possible technical service. We know that AM is still being established and many customers are using 3D printers for the first time, which supposes many doubts and uncertainties in the user. Our goal is clear: be there to help and advise our customers with human and top-grade technical support.
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