According to a new study “AM Parts Produced 2023” by Additive Manufacturing Research (AMR), 3D printing continues to grow, but is increasingly shifting from prototypes to finished components. AMR sees a long-term potential of over 100 billion dollars annually in additive manufacturing.
The overall growth of global metal additive prototyping slowed in 2023 compared to the previous year, as did the production of additive tools, while the printing of end-use parts accelerated. Although the growth rate slowed slightly compared to 2022, the printing of metal tools and tools with AM technologies grew by almost 41 percent in 2023.
The market for 3D-printed polymer prototypes grew by only 5 percent this year. Nevertheless, the overall volume of polymer part printing grew thanks to the increase in printed end-use parts, led by material extrusion and powder bed fusion technologies. With the proliferation of relatively inexpensive, professional polymer powder bed fusion printers, AM Research predicts that printing of end-use polymer parts with powder bed fusion processes will be double that of material extrusion processes.
The dental sector has a significant impact on AM printing volumes, and in 2023, results in the dental printing sector were mixed. Global inflation and the impact on consumer spending has greatly reduced dental activity, often led by aligner companies, and aligner thermoforming print volumes grew by only 4 percent globally this year.
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