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Wohlers Report 2023

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

97

co-authors and contributors

412

participating organizations

404

pages

The 28th annual report takes a deep dive into the growth of the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, with insights from 10 industry sectors

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Wohlers Report 2023 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.

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

Interested in multiple user licenses and/or expert phone consultations?

Wohlers Report 2023 Enterprise: Ask about our enterprise option if more than 5 people at your organization would like to access the report.

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Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Remarks from ASTM International
  • A note from Terry Wohlers
  • About the Authors and Editors
  • Abbreviations, Acronyms, 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 2022 to March 2023
  • 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
    • Architectural models
    • Additive 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
    • Factors impacting the adoption of metals
    • New metal powders
    • Producing powders for metal AM
    • Metal powder pricing
    • Composites materials
    • 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
    • R&D spending
    • Unit sales
    • Systems sold by region
    • Cumulative sales
    • Average selling price
    • Metal AM systems
  • Desktop 3D printers
    • Sales growth
    • 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
    • Comments from service providers
  • Investment in publicly traded companies
    • Revenues and earnings
    • Looking ahead
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Corporate investments
  • CAD solid modeling

PART 4: PRODUCTION OF END-USE PARTS

  • Benefits of AM
    • Biomimicry and generative design
    • Custom and limited product manufacturing
    • Digital inventories and part consolidation
    • Elimination of tooling
    • Optimized structures
    • Reduced lead time and on-demand manufacturing
    • Waste reduction and sustainability
  • Design for additive manufacturing
    • AM is not a replacement technology
  • Economic benefits of DfAM
    • Calculating part cost
  • DfAM strategies
    • Lightweighting
    • Support minimization
    • Minimizing residual stress and distortion
    • Improving surface finish
    • Part consolidation
    • Mass customization
    • Product performance improvements
  • Software
    • 3D scan-processing software
    • Topology optimization, design and algorithmic modeling
    • Repair
    • Simulation
    • Slicing and print preparation
    • Print management
    • Manufacturing execution systems
    • Security
    • Medical image processing
  • Process monitoring of metal powder bed fusion
    • Aconity3D
    • Addiguru
    • Addup
    • EOS
    • GE Additive
    • Layer Metrics
    • Manufacturing Demonstration Facility
    • Open Additive
    • Phase3D
    • Renishaw
    • Sigma Additive Solutions
    • SLM Solutions
    • Velo3D
    • Zeiss
    • Outlook
  • Post-processing
    • Polymer post-processing steps
    • Surface post-processing steps
    • AM par 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
  • Africa
    • South Africa
  • Americas
    • Argentina
    • Brazil
    • Canada
    • United Sates
  •  Asia/Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Singapore
    • Taiwan
  • Australasia
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
  • Europe
    • Austria
    • Belgium
    • Denmark
    • Finland
    • France
    • Germany
    • Greece
    • Italy
    • Netherlands
    • Norway
    • Poland
    • Portugal
    • Romania
    • Slovenia
    • Spain
    • Sweden
    • Switzerland
    • Turkey
    • United Kingdom
  • Middle East
    • Egypt
    • Israel

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

  • Advancements suggest optimism
    • Technical directions and trends
    • Challenges ahead
  • Automated AM production
  • Emerging applications
    • Electronics
    • Food
    • Medicine
    • Other areas
  • Workforce development
  • Sustainability and a circular economy
  • Landscape of AM startups
  • Startups and early-stage investments
  • New AM companies
  • The future of AM
    • Market forecast
    • Growth drivers
    • Obstacles
    • Possible surprises in the future
    • Closing comments

PART 8: SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS

  • Asia/Pacific
    • Aspect
    • Bright Laser Technologies
    • Eplus3D
    • 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
    • Digital Metal
    • DWS
    • Lithoz
    • Prodways
    • Renishaw
    • Sinterit
    • Sisma
    • Stratasys
    • XJet
  • U.S.
    • 3D Systems
    • Carbon
    • Desktop Metal
    • Essentium
    • Formlabs
    • GE Additive
    • HP
    • Markforged
    • Optomec

APPENDICES

  • Appendix A: Glossary of terms
  • Appendix B: System manufacturer matrix
  • 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)
Ray Huff, Wohlers Associates (U.S.)
Joseph Kowen, Wohlers Associates (Israel)
Terry Wohlers, Wohlers Associates (U.S.)

Associate author:

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

Editorial team:

Randall Newton
Clare Scott
Jenny van Rensburg

 

The following 91 individuals and organizations in 35 countries contributed to Wohlers Report 2023 and served as important sources for information.

Henrique Almeida Polytechnic Institute of Leiria Portugal
Fahmi Al-Shawwa Immensa United Arab Emirates
Hoda Amel Manufacturing Technology Centre UK
Leah Appelhans Sandia National Laboratories U.S.
Anton Aulbers TNO Netherlands
Nicolae Balc Technical University of Cluj–Napoca Romania
Jon Baxendale National Composites Centre UK
Kris Binon Flam3D Belgium
Klas Boivie SINTEF Norway
Gerrie Booysen Central University of Technology South Africa
David Bourell University of Texas at Austin U.S.
Milan Brandt RMIT University Australia
Stefanie Brickwede Deutsche Bahn Germany
David Bullock Rapid 3D South Africa
Aditya Chandavarkar Indian 3D Printing Network India
Andy Christensen University of Cincinnati U.S.
Deon de Beer Central University of Technology South Africa
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
Devon Hagedörn-Hansen University of Johannesburg South Africa
Shamil Hargovan STS Capital Partners Canada
Chaw Sing Ho NAMIC Singapore
Seyed Hosseini RISE Research Institute of Sweden Sweden
Tyler Hutin William Blair & Company U.S.
Jeng-Ywan Jeng National Taiwan University of Science and Tech. Taiwan
Kevin Jurrens National Institute of Standards and Technology U.S.
Ryan Kircher Kircher Consulting U.S.
Steve Kleimaker Canada Makes Canada
Samuel Leguizamon Sandia National Laboratories U.S.
Feng Lin Tsinghua University China
Henry Ma STS Capital Partners Canada
Giorgio Magistrelli CASTRA Bulgaria
Julien Magnien Sirris Belgium
Stephan Mansour ASTM International U.S.
Simon Marriott GoProto Australia
Manyalibo Matthews Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 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
Hideaki Oba 3D Printing Industry Technology Association Japan
John Obielodan University of Wisconsin–Platteville U.S.
Charles Overy LGM U.S.
Emiliano Pagani University of Buenos Aires Argentina
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
Alex Plotkowski Oak Ridge National Laboratory U.S.
Kateřina Podaná Klastr Mechatronika Czech Republic
Michele Pressacco LimaCorporate Italy
Michael Raphael Direct Dimensions U.S.
Olivier Rigo Sirris Belgium
Elisa Salatin LimaCorporate Italy
Kyle Saleeby Oak Ridge National Laboratory U.S.
Mika Salmi Aalto University Finland
Marco Salvisberg GF Casting Solutions Switzerland
Fabio Sant ́Ana ISO/TC 261 Brazil
Steffen Schmidt Danish AM Hub Denmark
Alexander Schmoeckel AM Ventures Germany
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.
Kinga Skrzek Future Industry Platform Poland
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 LimaCorporate Italy
Nora Touré Women in 3D Printing U.S.
Andrew Triantaphyllou MakeAmazing Greece
Kjeld van Bommel TNO Netherlands
Joel Vasco Polytechnic Institute of Leiria Portugal
Benoit Verquin Cetim France
John Vickers NASA U.S.
Neri Volpato Federal University of Technology – Paraná Brazil
Nicole Wake GE Healthcare U.S.
Matthew Waterhouse 3D Metalforge Singapore
John Wilczynski America Makes U.S.
David Wimpenny Manufacturing Technology Centre UK
Michal Zemko Klastr Mechatronika Czech Republic
Naiara Zubizarreta ADDIMAT Spain

 

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