Summary

Has 3D printing come of age?
3D printing is in its mid-thirties and is now approaching market growth that Chuck Hull could only have dreamt about when he invented it in 1983.
By 2025, 3D printing, or additive manufacturing (AM), will be a $32bn industry, rising to over $60bn by 2030. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between 2018 and 2025 will be 16%, according to GlobalData estimates, with software growing slightly faster than hardware, materials and services.
3D printing has always been most closely associated with prototyping and short production runs. But now it is becoming a key part of the manufacturing mix alongside injection molding and computer numerical control machining. The use of polymers - particularly plastics - in 3D printing still exceeds metals, but the gap is narrowing, and metals could outstrip polymers from 2021.
3D printing, a cutting-edge technology, is also steadily opening up opportunities for the power industry, with its applications in numerous facets of the power domain including renewable energy, conventional power, along with battery energy storage. Be it rapid prototyping and producing components or parts with complex geometries, AM results in shorter lead time, reduced costs, faster upgrade of existing assets and optimized efficiency, and is expected to further enhance with the invention of larger printers.
With the power industry under pressure, manufacturers are focusing on 3D printing for solutions with decreased costs and shorter timeframes. Power sector companies such as Siemens, GE, Rosatom and Westinghouse have been early adopters in the industrialization of 3D printing.

Scope

- This report explores 3D printing technology and its use cases in old and new contexts as well, most notably in construction and medicine, and the power sector.
- It identifies the winners and losers dominating the current technology theme, across the hardware, software, and services domains.
- It identifies power utilities and equipment manufacturers who are witnessing a huge opportunity with 3D printing.

Reasons to buy

- The report identifies leading players in the 3D printing sector, across the hardware, software, and services domains.
- It provides a technology briefing of how additive manufacturing processes have been developed over the last 25 years.
- It identifies the main trends in the 3D printing industry over the next 12 to 24 months.
- It provides an overview of the 3D printing value chain categorized across three core layers - hardware, software, and services.
- The report analyses the technology theme, with use cases, market size forecasts, competitive analysis, 3D printing in power, mergers and acquisitions, and a timeline.
- The report looks at the key industries impacted by 3D printing and estimate roughly how far away we are from significant industry disruption.
- The report also uses a scorecard approach to identify leading companies in a sector.
- The report looks at power sector companies that were early adopters of industrial 3D printing and their activities.