New Industry Study Reports 33% Growth of Products and Services in Additive Fabrication

Additive Processes for Prototyping, Tooling, and Manufacturing Poised for Future Growth and New Applications

DEARBORN, MICHIGAN, USA, May 10, 2005—Wohlers Associates, Inc. today published its most recent findings in Wohlers Report 2005, a 256-page worldwide progress report on the rapid prototyping, tooling, and manufacturing state of the industry. Last year, the worldwide market for additive fabrication, consisting of all products and services, grew to $705.2 million, up an impressive 33.3% from $528.9 million in 2003. In 2002 and 2001, industry revenues declined by 10% and 10.5%, respectively.

“In early 2004, the rockets were ignited and liftoff was imminent,” said Terry Wohlers, principal author of Wohlers Report 2005 and president of Wohlers Associates, Inc. “This year was met with a spectacular launch. All data shows that the industry is once again on a steep, upward trajectory,” Wohlers stated. “Revenues and unit sales are strong and material sales are better than ever. And the number of parts being produced annually is impressive.”

The new worldwide study reports that sales of 3D printers nearly doubled, with machine sales ascending to unparalleled heights. Stratasys, with its popular Dimension product, is again leading the pack. Z Corporation has secured second place in the annual unit sales race for the second consecutive year. A large installed base is more important than ever as companies build their businesses around recurring revenues from consumables.

Rapid manufacturing—the direct production of finished goods from additive fabrication—is showing an interesting, though not totally unexpected, upward growth trend. Organizations that use additive processes to manufacture end-use parts indicate that activity has increased from 3.9% in 2003 to 6.6% in 2004, and now to 8.2% in 2005. Wohlers Associates believes that rapid manufacturing will grow to become the largest application of additive fabrication in the future.

The release of Wohlers Report 2005 coincides with the Society of Manufacturing Engineer’s Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing 2005 Conference and Exposition, which began today and ends May 12 here in Dearborn. In today’s plenary session, Terry Wohlers presented highlights of the report in his annual State of the Industry address. RP&M 2005 marks the 13th consecutive year in which Wohlers has been invited to present his views, analysis, and opinions on this fast-changing industry.

Wohlers Report 2005 covers all facets of the industry, including business, product, market, technology, research, and application. Forty-nine co-authors, 47 service providers, 24 system manufacturers, and countless others assisted with its development. To support the review and analysis, the softbound publication includes 24 charts and graphs, 36 tables, 97 photographs and illustrations, and seven appendices.

The new report sells for $425 in the U.S. and $445 in all other countries. The report’s table of contents, as well as additional information on the additive fabrication market and industry, are available at https://wohlersassociates.com.

Wohlers Associates, Inc. is a 19-year-old independent consulting firm that works closely with manufacturing organizations to identify the best approaches to rapid product development. As the company’s principal consultant, Terry Wohlers tracks new methods and technologies and determines a strategic direction that gives companies an edge. His highly sought-after views and opinions come from years of collecting and analyzing market data, coupled with work as an advisor to major organizations in the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and South Africa.

Reports Development Team
The following individuals and organizations contributed to Wohlers Report 2005 and
served as important sources for information.

Paulo Jorge Bártolo Institute Polytechnic of Leiria (Portugal)
Joseph Beaman University of Texas at Austin
Alain Bernard Ecole Centrale de Nantes (France)
Paul Besl General Motors
David Bourell University of Texas at Austin
Tim Caffrey Seventh Son Creative Services
Andy Christensen Medical Modeling LLC
Rob Connelly FineLine Prototyping
Vesna Cota Tyco Electronics Canada Ltd. (Canada)
Deon de Beer Central University of Technology, Free State (South Africa)
Carl Dekker Met-L-Flo Inc.
Philip Dickens Loughborough University (England)
Thierry Dormal CRIF (Belgium)
Mike Durham Accelerated Technologies
Ping Fu mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt”>Raindrop Geomagic
Jim Gentrup mso-bidi-font-size:12.0pt”>Provident Equity Research
Vito Gervasi Milwaukee School of Engineering
Ian Gibson University of Hong Kong (China)
Tim Gornet University of Louisville
Andrzej Grzesiak FhG Institute for Mfg. Eng. & Automation (Germany)
Richard Hague Loughborough University (England)
Russ Harris Loughborough University (England)
Axel Henning FhG Institute for Mfg. Eng. & Automation (Germany)
Berndt Holmer IVF Industrial Research and Development Corp. (Sweden)
Neil Hopkinson Loughborough University (England)
Masato Imamura Sintokogio Ltd. (Japan)
Luca Iuliano Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
Oliver Jay Danish Technological Institute (Denmark)
Rik Knoppers TNO Science and Industry (The Netherlands)
Aditaya Kumar Marco Polo Products (India)
Bent Mieritz Danish Technological Institute (Denmark)
Doug Mitchell Ford Motor Company
Tom Mueller Express Pattern
Randall Newton Cyon Research
Ken Patton Saddleback College
Scott Schermer SC Johnson
Joel Segal University of Nottingham (England)
Michael Siemer Mydea Technologies
Adam Smith ATK Thiokol
Rupert Soar Loughborough University (England)
Brent Stucker Utah State University
Ed Tacket Saddleback College
Joe Taylor Caterpillar
Chris Tuck Loughborough University (England)
Jukka Tuomi Helsinki University of Technology (Finland)
Jonas Van Vaerenbergh mso-bidi-font-size:7.0pt”>Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium)
Pamela Waterman EngineeringInk
David Wimpenny De Montfort University (England)
Shinjiro Yamada INCS (Japan)
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