State of 3D printing, threats and opportunities for 3D Printing industry on 2016: what’s your guess?

Posted By Sculpteo on May 18, 2016 | 0 comments

“What trends would you anticipate having a major impact on 3D printing?” 250 additive manufacturing users recently gave their analysis on possible evolutions of the 3D industry, which we have reported in Sculpteo’s 2nd annual State of 3D Printing. Today we share with you an exclusive insight on our report.

To conduct a proper text analysis on this particular question,  we defined the verbatims with keywords and made a multi-categorical semantic classification. Altogether, 15 noticeable keywords and trends emerged. The percentage quoted here compare the proportion of the use of each keyword. Innovation (23%), efficiency (19%), and democratisation (also 19%) are the top notions used by the respondents.

• Innovation

Already very innovative, additive manufacturing will see, if we trust the respondents, new materials and new technics grow in importance. Metal printing is considered one of the top innovations (8%), color printing also ranked in the words used by the respondents (2.5%). One respondent suggested new materials such as sol-gel, new ceramic or even glass.

• Efficiency

Efficiency can be separated into two distinct levels. First, speed (11%) is a relevant evolution foreseen by the respondents. Speed in the machinery (“Fast SLA with DLP”, “CLIP technology and other fast resin printers”, “reduced stocks”) and speed in the process & delivery time (”rapid prototyping”).

Second, a better quality (10%) is definitely a feature of additive manufacturing future development, according to the respondents. “Resistance of materials”, “smooth surfaces”, “completion and resistance of parts”, “precision of details” are as many improvements as respondents could say.

• Democratisation

“User-friendly” is quoted many times (7%). In fact, respondents are waiting for  “Simplistic Software which makes 3d creation, manipulating, and printing super easy for the average” and “ better UI for customers.” The rise of Makers movement, DIY, and fab labs is also seen as a major trend for 3D printing., such as democratic 3D scanning.

In conclusion, most of the respondents describe opportunities for the 3D printing industry than threats. We now invite you to refer to our 2nd edition of the “State of 3D printing” that will be released by the end of the week.