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Wohlers Report 2022

Analysis. Trends. Forecasts. 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing State of the Industry.

93

co-authors and contributors

412

participating organizations

425

pages

Get the 27th annual undisputed, industry-leading source on the additive manufacturing and 3D printing industry.

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Wohlers Report 2022 features the latest information you need to stay informed and expand your knowledge of the constantly evolving AM industry.

Gain a thorough understanding of AM and applications from pre- to post-processing, and learn about the latest technologies, applications, and trends from top industry experts

Receive industry intelligence you cannot find anywhere else from a worldwide network of experts, including service providers, AM system manufacturers, and producers of third-party materials.

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Novices and industry veterans alike use the Wohlers Report to improve processes, make informed decisions, and expand their footprint.

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Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Remarks from ASTM International
  • A note from Terry Wohlers
  • About the authors and Editors
    • Principal authors
    • Associate author
    • Editorial team
  • Acronyms, Abbreviations, and Conversions

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

  • Focus of this report
  • Introduction to AM and 3D printing
    • Processes and feedstock
    • Putting AM to work
  • History of AM
    • 1960s to the modern era
    • March 2021 to March 2022
  • Industry Survey
  • Applications
    • Prototyping
    • Tooling
    • Final part production
    • Additional applications
  • Industries
    • Aerospace
    • Medical
    • Dentistry
    • Automotive
    • Consumer products
    • Education and academic research
    • Power and energy
    • Government and military
    • Architecture models
    • Construction
    • Other industries
  • Myths and misconceptions
    • AM will replace conventional manufacturing
    • Complexity is free
    • AM is a “push button” process
    • Most AM systems are similar
    • AM is environmentally friendly
    • Few materials are available for AM
    • Metal AM produces parts inexpensively
    • AM parts are inferior to conventional parts
    • Every home will have a 3D printer

PART 2: MATERIALS AND PROCESSES

  • Processes
    • Material extrusion
    • Vat photopolymerization
    • Powder bed fusion
    • Material jetting
    • Binder jetting
    • Directed energy deposition
    • Sheet lamination
  • Materials
    • Polymers
    • New polymer products
    • Polymer pricing
    • Metals
    • New metal powders
    • Producing powders for metal AM
    • Metal powder pricing
    • Composites and hybrid materials
    • Materials for metal-casting
    • Ceramics and other materials
  • Third-party material producers
    • Open vs. closed material business models
    • Third-party producers
  • Materials database
    • Materials by process
    • Material producers and products

PART 3: INDUSTRY GROWTH

  • Revenue from AM worldwide
    • Products and services
    • Growth percentages
  • System manufacturers
    • Unit sales
    • Market shares
    • Systems sold by region
    • Average selling price
    • Metal AM systems
    • Polymer AM systems
    • Unit sales by manufacturer and year
  • Desktop 3D printers
    • Sales growth
    • China
    • Materials and R&D
  • AM material sales
    • Photopolymers
    • Polymer powders
    • Filaments
    • Metals
  • Service providers
    • Primary service market
    • Service provider survey
    • Contributing service providers
    • Survey results
    • Pre- and post-processing
    • Most profitable AM processes
    • Most profitable material
    • Revenue growth
    • Supplier competition
    • Comments from service providers
  • Investment in publicly traded companies
    • Revenues and earnings
    • Outlook
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Corporate Investments
  • CAD solid modeling

PART 4: FINAL PART PRODUCTION

  • Benefits of AM for production
    • Reduction of tooling
    • Reduced lead time and on-demand manufacturing
    • Reduced inventory and part consolidation
    • Sustainability and waste reduction
    • Custom product manufacturing
    • Generative design and biomimicry
    • Optimized structures
  • Design for additive manufacturing
    • Lightweighting and topology optimization
    • Complex lattice structures
    • Support material and post-processing optimization
    • Consolidating parts
    • Improved fluid flow, conformal cooling, and efficiency
    • Economic benefits of DfAM
    • Calculating part cost and factors impacting it
  • Software
    • 3D scan-processing
    • Topology optimization and generative design
    • Repair
    • Simulation
    • Slicing and print preparation
    • Print management
    • Manufacturing execution systems
    • Security
    • Medical imaging
  • Process monitoring of metal powder bed fusion
    • Aconity3D
    • Addiguru
    • Additive Monitoring Systems
    • EOS
    • GE Additive
    • Layer Metrics
    • Manufacturing Demonstion Facility
    • Open Additive
    • Renishaw
    • Sigma Labs
    • SLM Solutions
    • Velo3D
    • Outlook
  • Post-processing
    • Polymer parts
    • Surface treatment of polymer parts
    • Metal parts
    • Thermal processing of metal parts
    • Metal support material removal
    • Metal surface treatment
    • Automation
    • AM part inspection
  • Cost and challenges
    • Operating costs
    • Cost justification
    • Machine throughput
    • Metal part production cost considerations
    • Safety considerations
    • Facility considerations
    • Additional equiptment
    • Qualification and quality
    • Educating designers
  • Scaling AM into production
    • Production systems
    • Software
    • Staff and maintenance
    • Post-processing
    • Finishing
    • Quality control

PART 5: GLOBAL REPORTS

  • Installations by country
  • Asia/Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Singapore
    • Taiwan
  • Australasia
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
  • Europe
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Hungary
    • Italy
    • Netherlands
    • Norway
    • Poland
    • Portugal
    • Romania
    • Slovenia
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Turkey
    • United Kingdom
  • Middle East
    • Egypt
    • Iran
    • Israel
  • Other regions
    • Brazil
    • Canada
    • South Africa
    • United States

PART 6: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

  • Trends
  • Patents
    • Patent litigation
  • Consortia and collaborations
    • ASTM AM Center of Excellence
    • America Makes
    • Fraunhofer Society
    • Women in 3D Printing
    • Mobility Goes Additive
    • Partnerships
    • Other groups and associations
  • AM standards
    • ASTM Committee F42
    • ISO/TC 261
    • AM Standardization Collaborative
  • AM activities at NASA
  • AM in the U.S. Department of Defense
  • U.S. government-sponsored R&D
    • National Science Foundation
    • DOD, DOE, and DOC
    • National Institutes of Health
  • U.S. national laboratories
    • Oak Ridge National Laboratory
    • Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
    • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Government-sponsored R&D in Europe
  • Academic activities and capabilities
    • Research innovations
    • The Americas
    • Asia/Pacific
    • Europe, Middle East, and Africa
    • Research institutes with AM capabilities

PART 7: THE FUTURE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

  • Advances point to what is next
    • Technical directions and trends
    • Challenges ahead
  • Emerging applications
    • 3D-printed electronics
    • 3D-printed food
    • 3D-printed medicine
  • 3D Scanning
    • Current state of 3D measurement
    • Processing 3D scan data
    • Democratization
    • Trends and opportunities
  • Workforce development
  • Sustainability and a circular economy
  • Landscape of AM startups
  • Startups and early-stage investments
    • Acquisitions and public offerings
  • New AM companies
  • Market forecast and opportunity
  • Summary

Part 8: SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS

  • Asia/Pacific
    • Aspect
    • Bright Laser Technologies
    • Eplus 3D
    • Farsoon
    • Mimaki
    • UnionTech
    • XYZprinting
    • ZRapid
  • Germany
    • Arburg
    • BigRep
    • DMG Mori
    • EOS
    • SLM Solutions
    • Trumpf
    • Voxeljet
  • Other companies in Europe and the Middle East
    • Additive Industries
    • AddUp
    • Admatec
    • BeAM
    • Digital Metal
    • DWS
    • Lithoz
    • Prodways
    • Renishaw
    • Sinterit
    • Sisma
    • Stratasys
    • XJet
  • U.S.
    • 3D Systems
    • Carbon
    • Cincinnati
    • Desktop Metal
    • Essentium
    • ETEC
    • ExOne
    • Formlabs
    • GE Additive
    • HP
    • Markforged
    • Optomec
  • Manufacturer, process, and material matrix
  • Additional system manufacturers

APPENDICES

  • Appendix A: Glossary of terms
  • Appendix B: 1988-2006 unit sales
  • Appendix C: Metal AM comparison matrix
  • Appendix D: 3D scanning systems

Report Development Team

Principal authors:

Ian Campbell, Wohlers Associates (UK)
Olaf Diegel, Wohlers Associates (New Zealand)
Joseph Kowen, Wohlers Associates (Israel)
Noah Mostow, Wohlers Associates (U.S.)
Terry Wohlers, Wohlers Associates (U.S.)

Associate author:

Ismail Fidan, Tennessee Tech University (U.S.)

Editorial team:

David Bourell, University of Texas at Austin (U.S.)
Jenny van Rensburg (South Africa)

The following 85 individuals and organizations in 31 countries contributed to Wohlers Report 2022 and served as important sources for information.

Mukesh Agarwala 3D Product Development India
Anton Aulbers TNO Netherlands
Nicolae Balc Technical University of Cluj–Napoca Romania
Kris Binon Flam3D Belgium
Klas Boivie SINTEF Norway
Gerrie Booysen Central University of Technology South Africa
David Brackett Manufacturing Technology Centre UK
Milan Brandt RMIT University Australia
Stefanie Brickwede Mobility Goes Additive Germany
Andy Christensen Department of Radiology, University of Cincinnati U.S.
Doug Collins Avid Product Development U.S.
Deon de Beer Central University of Technology South Africa
Frank Defalco Ngen Canada
Alex Doukas Kinetic Vision U.S.
Brian Drab William Blair & Company U.S.
Igor Drstvenšek University of Maribor Slovenia
Nicholas Eitsert Finnegan LLP U.S.
David Espalin University of Texas at El Paso U.S.
Thomas Feldhausen Oak Ridge National Laboratory U.S.
Matthew Friedell Colorado Air National Guard U.S.
Khalid Abdel Ghany CMRDI Egypt
Morgan Gillott-Crooks Wohlers Associates, Inc. U.S.
Dan Guo Additive Manufacturing Alliance of China China
Arno Held AM Ventures Germany
Shamil Hargovan STS Capital Partners Canada
Lars Holmegaard Danish AM Hub Denmark
Seyed Hosseini RISE Research Institute of Sweden Sweden
Jeng-Ywan Jeng National Taiwan University of Science and Tech. Taiwan
Kevin Jurrens National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S.
Blake Keating William Blair & Company U.S.
Andrzej Kęsy University of Technology and Humanities Poland
Babak Kianian Lund University Sweden
Ryan Kircher Kircher Consulting U.S.
Jason Laing ProMake International UK
Feng Lin Tsinghua University China
Aia Lykke Danish AM Hub Denmark
Giorgio Magistrelli A3DM Magazine France
Julien Magnien Sirris Belgium
Simon Marriott GoProto Australia
Manyalibo Matthews Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory U.S.
Gianluca Mattaroccia Estée Lauder U.S.
Greg Morris Vertex Manufacturing U.S.
Tom Mueller Mueller Additive Manufacturing Solutions U.S.
Kristin Mulherin Women in 3D Printing U.S.
Bernhard Müller Fraunhofer IWU Germany
Ireneusz Musiałek Jan Kochanowski University of Kielce Poland
Randall Newton Consilia Vektor U.S.
Hideaki Oba 3D Printing Industry Technology Association Japan
John Obielodan University of Wisconsin–Platteville U.S.
Miklos Odrobina Szent István University Hungary
Charles Overy LGM U.S.
Keun Park Seoul National University of Science and Tech. Korea
Nick Pearce Alexander Daniels Global U.S.
Joris Peels 3DPrint.com Netherlands
Burak Pekcan “+90” Turkey
Pat Picariello ASTM International U.S.
Sebastian Piegert Siemens Energy Germany
Behrang Poorganji University of Toledo U.S.
Michele Pressacco Lima Corporate Italy
Michael Raphael Direct Dimensions U.S.
Elisa Salatin Lima Corporate Italy
Kyle Saleeby Oak Ridge National Laboratory U.S.
Mika Salmi Aalto University Finland
Marco Salvisberg GF Casting Solutions Switzerland
Jörg Sander Hensoldt Sensors Germany
P. Randall Schunk Sandia National Laboratories U.S.
Luke Scime Oak Ridge National Laboratory U.S.
Christian Seidel Fraunhofer IGCV Germany
Mohsen Seifi ASTM International U.S.
Jorge Vicente Lopes da Silva Renato Archer Information Technology Center Brazil
Aidan Skoyles Finnegan LLP U.S.
John Slotwinski Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory U.S.
Chris Spadaccini Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory U.S.
Jürgen Stampfl Vienna University of Technology Austria
Riccardo Toninato Lima Corporate Italy
Nora Touré Women in 3D Printing U.S.
Kjeld van Bommel TNO Netherlands
Joel Vasco Polytechnic Institute of Leiria Portugal
Benoit Verquin Cetim France
John Vickers NASA U.S.
Nicole Wake GE Healthcare U.S.
Matthew Waterhouse 3D Metalforge Singapore
John Wilczynski America Makes U.S.
David Wimpenny Manufacturing Technology Centre UK
Naiara Zubizarreta ADDIMAT Spain

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