AM News Archives

Wohlers Report 2021 Finds 7.5% Growth in Additive Manufacturing Industry Despite Pandemic

Keeping up with technology trends of any type is no easy feat, but maintaining pace with additive manufacturing would be near impossible without the help of the annual industry-leading report on additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing from Wohlers Associates, a TEAMM Coordination Network partner.

In the Wohlers Report 2021, now in its 26th year, is a detailed look at the trends, perspectives, and forecasts that executives and educators find essential for decision making, education, and knowledge acceleration. The report gives readers new to AM a comprehensive understanding of the technology and industry. Veterans of the technology benefit from up-to-date information on growth, recent trends, and important developments worldwide.

This year’s 375-page report discusses the impact of COVID-19 on the AM industry. Even with the pandemic, Wohlers Associates found industry expansion of 7.5 percent to nearly $12.8 billion in 2020. Growth was down considerably, compared to average growth of 27.4% over the previous 10 years.

Most established manufacturers of AM systems saw a decline in equipment sales, but many less-established companies grew in 2020. An increase in business by AM service providers supported industry wide growth. The following chart shows 7.1% growth from independent service providers worldwide, resulting in nearly $5.3 billion of revenue from this group.

Dr. Ismail Fidan, Professor in Manufacturing and Engineering Technology at Tennessee Tech University, is an associate author of Wohlers Report 2021. He focuses on Academic activities and capabilities, and in the section, he highlights the work of over 130 institutions and 15 research institutes, some examples:

“Somerset Community College in Kentucky initiated a new AM project called the Rapid Response Additive Manufacturing Initiative (RRAMI). It involved a statewide rapid response network capable of manufacturing critical supplies in the event of future emergencies.” We shared an RRAMI update on LinkedIn related to our AM News social media efforts.
“Five Louisiana universities have been awarded a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation to transform AM research and education in Louisiana.”
“The National Institute of Standards and Technology awarded nearly 4 million to Georgia Tech, the University of Texas at El Paso, Purdue University, and Northeastern University. The grant is to advance the competitive competitiveness of metal AM companies in the U.S.”

In addition to the academic section (and the rest of the regular comprehensive report sections), there are new and expanded features in Wohlers Report 2021:

3D printing of food, medicine, and electronics
Pricing of metals and polymers and the hidden costs of AM
Methods of AM part inspection
Pandemic’s impact on the AM industry
Compilation of expert reports from 34 countries
Tables of AM systems, software tools, service providers, and third-party materials

Of course, at TEAMM as well as MatEdU, we are particularly interested in the materials science and technician side of the industry and Wohlers Report 2021 has a dedicated section, 40-plus pages, on Materials and Processes. In the materials section, are explanations of the latest material processes, such as, vat photopolymerization, powder bed fusion, material jetting, binder jetting, and directed energy deposition, among others. There are deep dives into polymers, graphene and other nanomaterials, new polymer products as well as metal powders for metal AM. The section also explores various 3rd party material producers and talks about the Senvol public database of AM systems and materials.

If you are looking to understand the industry and its many fast-moving parts, Wohlers Report 2021 is a strong way to start (and finish). Read more about Wohlers Associates here.

Join The 2020 Virtual National ‘Manufacturing Day’ Celebration at Tennessee Tech

Mobile 3D Printer TTU Ismail Fidan

Manufacturing Day is an event and special opportunity for manufacturers to showcase their workers and company, as well as to connect with future skilled workers. Like so many other events during COVID-19, the game has changed. In-person events are now virtual and hundreds have rallied their teams to shift to digital, virtual events (take a look at the map below).

Tomorrow, the first Friday of October, MFG DAY organizers and participants will walk through virtual doors and start new conversations. The goal for all manufacturers is to foster interest in manufacturing careers. Tennessee Tech University (TTU) is leading the way with a MFG DAY Zoom launch at 10am Central time (45 minutes).

Here’s a snapshot of what they will be doing in this fast-paced session where you will hear from each expert:

Ismail Fidan, Professor, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology (Welcome)
Additive Manufacturing Applied to “Wicked” Interdisciplinary Healthcare Problems
- Robby Sanders, Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering
- Melissa Geist, Professor, School of Nursing
Wire + Arc Additive Manufacturing for High Performance Materials
- Duckbong Kim, Assistant Professor, Manufacturing and Engineering Technology
Cobots in Manufacturing
- Stephen Canfield, Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Additive Manufacturing of Multi-Material Parts
- Seymur Hasanov, Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering
Composite Parts Manufacturing using Fused Filament Fabrication Process
- Ankit Gupta, Ph.D. Candidate, Mechanical Engineering
Large-Scale Additive Manufacturing of Cement-Based Structures
- J. J. Biernacki, Professor, Chemical Engineering
The Strange Rheology of Cement-Based Pastes
- Babajide Onanuga, Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering
Using Hydrogels in Cement-Based Printing Pastes
- Hajar Taheri-Afarani, Ph.D. Candidate, Chemical Engineering
2-D Stationary Computational Printing of Cement-Based Materials
- Abdul Salam Mohammad, Ph.D. Student, Chemical Engineering

Get ready to answer some fun manufacturing quiz bowl questions during the event! Winners will receive surprise SME gift items. Original MFG Day PDF flyer is here. You can also see the full TTU TechBot Mobile 3D Printer video from where the above is captured.

Thanks to the SME team for their support and helpful post that shows how you can find a virtual Manufacturing Day event near you. Of course, you can attend virtually from anywhere, but sometimes you want one closer to home. Check out their post and here is that screenshot that shows there are no shortage of events happening tomorrow on October 2nd.

Note: On the SME site is the “Attend an Event” button and you can see the full, interactive map full of MFG Day 2020 events, mostly virtual, all around the USA.

Introducing The AM News ‘Editor’s Corner’ Column

AM News is adding a new section called the Editor’s Corner. This new section will provide a way for us to share a variety of resources, links, projects, and other stories that we come across in our research for this site. TJ McCue, our editor, will begin sharing some personalized posts this week.

TJ here: In my work on various National Science Foundation (NSF) projects, particularly here on TEAMM and AM News, I am constantly researching and reviewing a wide range of topics that matter for technician education, materials science, and additive manufacturing. I am active in the industries that touch our educational efforts having worked as a consultant or contractor for many of the large brands that you know and love.

I have put pen to paper for a number of publications you know as well, from the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, and currently Forbes in their Innovation and Consumer Tech section. I spent almost a full year on the road for a large national project known as 3DRV where I traveled the USA researching and reporting on 3D printing and 3D scanning. All that said, I am passionate about this space and care deeply about how we educate our young people to keep them ready for the future of work.

Every year, there are conferences and events that capture our attention and time. Depending on your specialties, you may visit an event focused on Materials Science, STEM Education, or 3D Printing, to name just a few that are of interest to our readers here.

TEAMM was part of the annual M-STEM event held last year at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. The event is sponsored by the National Science Foundation as part of an Advanced Technological Education (ATE) with MatEdU, our sister organization at Edmonds Community College. If you have not visited before, MatEdU is a clearinghouse of teaching materials including labs, hands-on demonstrations, modules and papers, which can easily be integrated into a variety of courses, class-room settings, and industry.

At the M-STEM event, two graduate students presented (and won) an award for their work at Tennessee Tech University building a mobile 3D printer. It can work with a variety of materials from cake frosting (you read that right) to cement to paint. You can check out the YouTube video here. Although they were not present at M-STEM, TEAMM Network Member, Somerset Community College, is doing some amazing 3D printing work as well converting a $450 polymer (FFF) machine into a metal 3D printer.

If you have not visited MatEdU before, it is a clearinghouse of teaching materials including labs, hands-on demonstrations, modules and papers, which can easily be integrated into a variety of courses, class-room settings, and industry.

An event to mark on your calendars for April 20 – 23, 2020 is probably one of the best-known conferences for 3D (celebrating its 30th Year): RAPID + TCT, the largest 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing event in North America (scroll down on that page to find student and educator discounts).

I’ll be attending this year’s RAPID+TCT event in Anaheim, California and will be reporting back to you on some of the developments for education, as well as advances in Medical Additive Manufacturing (AM), and new AM Startups (this section is not published yet) shaking up the already fast-moving world of 3D printing. Plus, there is a Student Summit.

One of the goals of this new section is to give a shout out to various organizations, colleges and universities, companies, and other resources that can help you in your work with students and the public at large. Some weeks, it might be a long list; other weeks I might only have one item to share with you.

This week I wanted to draw your attention to an affordable, do-it-yourself type microscope known as the Foldscope. According to the website, Foldscope was “invented by Manu Prakash and Jim Cybulski who asked themselves: What is the best microscope you can build for under $1 in parts?

“Their inspiration for the Foldscope originated from field visits around the world, where they continually encountered bulky, broken microscopes, or a lack of microscopes entirely. As traditional microscopes are often expensive or cumbersome, they realized the universal scale of this problem and the need for a low-cost, revolutionary solution.”

At the end of 2019, one million Foldscopes were found in the wild helping children and adults become citizen scientists.

May your weekend be filled with all the good materials.

NOTE: The Foldscope is made up of common, easy to get and affordable materials, however on their website a deluxe microscope sells for around $30 for one unit. I presume this is partly to fund other parts of the initiative. They sell a classroom kit of $20 that works out to a bit over $1.75 per unit. Still a deal.

An earlier version of this post was published at Medium.

Wohlers Report 2019 Academic Activities Chapter By Dr. Ismail Fidan

Dr. Ismail Fidan from Tennessee Tech University is in the news often. The engineering department professor is actively serving the AM community; from his students at TTU to the larger group of professionals and analysts who read the annual Wohlers Report. Dr. Fidan contributes a thorough chapter each year on the activities and capabilities within academia.

He notes there is a strong and growing demand for workers trained in additive manufacturing. There are many colleges and universities adding certificates and degrees centered on AM processes. Many of these institutions are conducting research and forming industry-level partnerships within AM.

In the report, he states, “Professional survey results and interviews suggest that skill sets developed using AM technologies are vital for graduating students who are entering the workforce. In response to the growing opportunities in the AM job market, interest among students in AM-related design and manufacturing courses has increased significantly.”

“AM provides students with the opportunity to take their designs to the next level by allowing them to get involved in the fabrication stage. In response to this need, the number of newly established AM- based makerspaces and innovation institutes around the world has grown significantly.”

As a TEAMM Network member, Dr. Fidan is committed to technician education. In approximately 15 pages, in the Academic activities and capabilities chapter, he chronicles the many academic projects and initiatives taking place around the world. It is a veritable Who’s Who in additive manufacturing.

According to his Wohlers Report 2019 chapter, there are 125 academic institutions and 14 research institutes listed along with short summaries of the areas of focus, including the individuals to contact. The 125 academic institutions are located in the following regions:

- - 28 in Asia/Pacific
  - 34 in Europe
  - 57 in North America
  - 6 in Africa and South America

Dr. Fidan has served as a member of the Wohlers Report team for the last three years. In his role, he collects and reports on the worldwide academic AM practices, trends, and innovations. Currently, he is one of the associate authors of the report. TEAMM continues to look to Dr. Ismail Fidan for his thought leadership within AM and education.

TEAMM Network Principal Investigator Mel Cossette Reports On Materials Education

According to Forbes and the Wohlers Report 2019, the additive manufacturing forecast for 2020 is $15.8 billion for all AM products and services worldwide. The company expects that revenue forecast to climb to $23.9 billion in 2022, and $35.6 billion in 2024.

Mel Cossette at Edmonds Workshop

This year the report is at 369 pages. Wohlers Report 2019 draws upon expertise of 80 authors and contributors located in 32 countries. Wohlers Associates also received input from 127 service providers, 71 manufacturers of industrial systems, and 30 producers of desktop 3D printers and third-party materials around the world. It is filled with insights and data, such as,

Benefits and challenges of designing for AM
The overall materials segment of the industry saw record growth in 2018. A great deal of research and development was carried out in this area in 2018, particularly on high-performance thermoplastics.

Among the important trends, particularly relevant to the Technician Education in Additive Manufacturing & Materials (TEAMM), are knowledge and skills development, and materials development, as well as industry standards. In addition to these AM trends, among the 80 authors in the report, the TEAMM Network’s Principal Investigator, Mel Cossette, contributed a section within Part 7: Research and Development of the Wohlers Report 2019.

Ms. Cossette provided an overview of the TEAMM project summarizing some of its work over the last year, including:

- - “The role of materials development in advancing AM process capabilities is vital. With newly developed materials available for 3D printing, it is important for AM technicians to understand the properties they can provide.”
  - Highlights of TEAMM’s work with the AM News blog on the 4TEAMM.org website.
  - The TEAMM Network facilitates the delivery of annual workshops and presentations focused on AM and materials.
  - TEAMM and Tennessee Tech collaborated with Purdue University to develop and present a virtual reality curriculum using VR as a tool to teach AM.

Edmonds VR Workshop

With the AM industry on a radical growth curve, heading toward a big jump in overall revenue of $15.8 billion for all AM products and services worldwide in 2020, TEAMM and its Network partners are in a good place for serving the needs of AM and Materials Science technicians.

NOTE: Wohlers Associates is also a TEAMM Network member.