AM Trends Identified: Back to Basics, Personalization and Digitalization

In their annual look at the year ahead, experts at Materialise have identified trends to define 2021 in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry. Here’s what they see as the big three:

Back to the drawing board―”The continued emergence of crises such as COVID-19 or Global Warming means that we can no longer continue with the way things have been going. We need to dramatically rethink the way industries operate and how we develop solutions to new challenges. This extreme rethinking of products creates opportunities for AM as part of the solution.”

Personalizing the process―“It is generally known and accepted that a unique and distinguishing characteristic of 3D printing is that it significantly reduces the cost of customization of products. What is less known and often overlooked is the importance of empowering engineers and operators to also personalize and optimize the printing process as such. We see a trend towards more control for the machine operators.”

No time to waste―”Digitization is accelerating in every area as companies are investing in technologies that can help them adapt to the new normal. AM is one of those digital technologies that can deliver short-term ROI, but the entry point has typically come with a lengthy learning curve. Companies new to AM no longer have the luxury of time. As a result, we see a growing trend for services that guide companies along this path.”

See also: Materialise USA LLC

Technologies: Additive Manufacturing

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