Wohlers Report 2000

Rapid Prototyping & Tooling State of the Industry
Annual Worldwide Progress Report

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
About the author
Focus of this report
Introduction to rapid prototyping and tooling

PART 1: BACKGROUND

  • History of RP systems
  • Industries being served
    • How RP models are being used
    • Installations by country
  • Applications
    • Communication
    • Engineering changes
    • Good ideas and powerful proposals
    • Concept models
    • Verifying CAD databases
    • Styling, ergonomic studies
    • Functional testing
    • Prototypes and prototype tooling
    • Metal castings
    • Early input from suppliers, toolmakers
    • Requesting quotes

PART 2: INDUSTRY GROWTH

  • Improving market
    • Number of models being produced
    • Encouraging growth, challenges ahead
  • Revenue growth
    • Revenues from products and services
    • Secondary market
    • Revenues from service bureaus
    • Other service revenues
  • Unit sales
    • 3D Systems regains the lead
    • Systems sold by region in 1999
    • Cumulative systems sold by region
    • Units sold by U.S. manufacturers in 1999
    • Units sold by Japanese manufacturers in 1999
    • 1998-1999 unit sales by manufacturer
    • Cumulative unit sales by manufacturer
    • Unit sales by vendor and year
    • 3D printer unit sales by vendor and year
  • Growth trends and sales forecasts
    • Unit sales growth percentages
    • Worldwide revenue estimates
    • Annual revenue growth percentages
    • Comparing growth of RP and machining markets
  • Service bureaus
    • Concentration of service bureaus
    • Mix of machines
    • Market segment continues to shrink
    • Number of models produced by SBs
    • Patterns for investment casting
    • Working with service bureaus
    • Changing times
    • What is driving prices downward?
    • More challenges are ahead
    • Market is improving
    • What lies ahead?

PART 3: TOOLING

  • Advances
    • Growing list of methods
    • Conformal cooling channels
    • Risk factors
  • Indirect approaches
    • Silicone rubber tooling
    • Aluminum-filled epoxy tooling
    • Spray metal tooling
    • RSP Tooling
    • Ford's Sprayform
    • Cast kirksite tooling
    • 3D Keltool
    • PolySteel
    • ECOTOOL
    • Express Tool
    • CEMCOM
    • Swiftool
    • PHAST
  • Direct approaches
    • Direct AIM tooling
    • Copper Polyamide
    • RapidTool
    • DMLS
    • ProMetal
    • LENS
  • Other considerations
    • Machined tooling
    • Laminate tooling
    • Hybrid tooling
    • Space Puzzle Molding
    • Prototype tooling selection guide
    • Tool design software
    • Size of tooling market

PART 4: SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS

  • 3D Systems
    • New management
    • ThermoJet
    • 3D Keltool
  • Aaroflex
  • Beijing Yinhua
  • Cubital
  • DTM
    • Increasing number of materials
    • RapidTool
  • EOS
  • F&S GmbH
  • Helisys
  • Kinergy
  • Objet
  • Optomec
  • Röders
  • Sanders Prototype
    • Sanders Design International
    • Buss Müller Technology
  • Schroff Development
  • Stratasys
    • WaterWorks
    • Simplicity, throughput
  • Z Corp.
    • Color system
    • Materials
  • RP stocks
    • Improving earnings
    • Global economy
    • Market sentiment towards small cap stocks improving

PART 5: ASIA & EUROPE

  • Asia
    • Sales activity
    • Factors affecting RP involvement in Asia
  • Japan
    • Markets embracing RP
    • Unit sales growth
    • Japanese strategy
    • Developments and trends in Japan
    • RP system using LEDs
    • Material and software developments
    • 3D printing for concept modeling
    • Why has RP growth been slow?
    • Tooling and high-speed machining in Japan
  • Europe
    • EU support
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Italy
    • France
    • Sweden
    • Finland
    • Denmark
    • The Netherlands
  • Other regions
    • Brazil
    • India
    • South Africa
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • RP groups and associations

PART 6: RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

  • Developments, patents
    • Buss Müller Technology
    • MicroTEC
    • Precision Optical Manufacturing
    • CAM-LEM
    • Offset Fabrication
    • Micromod
    • University of Utah
    • MIT's 3DP technology, licensees
  • U.S. government-sponsored R&D
    • NSF funding
    • DoD
  • RP academic programs
    • Hurdles and hindrances
    • Research activities

PART 7: CAD & COMPUTING

  • CAD/CAM/CAE
    • Advances in computing
    • Operating systems
    • Growth of solid modeling
    • Interoperability and data translation
    • Viewing and visual collaboration
    • Machining STL data
  • Software for RP
    • SolidView
    • Magics, Mimics, and Magics Communicator
    • View Expert and 3Data Expert
    • 3D View
    • Rapid Prototyping Module
    • Velocity2
    • Rhino
    • StlView
  • The Internet phenomenon
    • Internet-based software
    • Collaboration tools
    • Information retrieval
    • Part geometry on-line
    • Quoting on the web
    • RP community shares information

PART 8: OTHER DEVELOPMENTS

  • RP materials
    • Stereolithography resins
    • Materials for other RP processes
    • 3D printers
  • Medical modeling
    • Research areas in medical RP
    • RP is impacting the lives of patients
    • RP helps forensic anthropologists
  • Reverse engineering
    • How the technology works
    • Methods of data collection
    • Final advice

PART 9: WHERE IT'S ALL HEADED

  • Climbing the chasm walls
    • Technology adoption life cycle
    • CAD solid modeling as a gating factor
    • RP's past
    • RP today
    • What needs to happen
    • The tornado
    • How do identify emergence from the chasm
    • Incremental, complementary, and replacement technology
    • 3D printing: complementary or replacement?
    • Objet's impact
    • Virtual prototyping: will it be a replacement?
    • What to expect
  • The future
    • 3D printing
    • Will digital models replace physical prototypes?
    • Rapid manufacturing
    • Changes ahead
    • Long-term outlook
    • Systems of the future
    • Future applications
  • What to do
  • Where to learn more
    • Internet mail list
    • GARPA
    • RPA/SME

APPENDICES

  • Appendix A: Glossary of terms
  • Appendix B: Addresses of RP system manufacturers
    • United States
    • Israel
    • Europe
    • Japan
    • China
    • Singapore
  • Appendix C: Rapid tooling technology developers
    • United States
    • Europe
  • Appendix D: RP software companies
  • Appendix E: Material suppliers
  • Appendix F: U.S. RP system specifications
  • Appendix G: RP systems manufactured outside the U.S.
  • Appendix H: Materials
  • Appendix I: 3D data collection systems