Deloitte’s 2019 Insights: Navigating the Double-Digit Growth and Evolving Landscape of Additive Manufacturing

Each year, Deloitte, a global leader in consulting and audit services, publishes its highly anticipated Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) Predictions. These comprehensive reports offer invaluable insights into the overarching trends shaping the digital technology landscape. In its 2019 edition, Deloitte cast a significant spotlight on the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, commonly known as 3D printing, revealing a vibrant picture of sustained expansion and maturity.

According to Deloitte’s analysis, the 3D printing industry has successfully navigated through a period of initial hype and subsequent slight slowdown, emerging into a steady state characterized by robust, double-digit growth. This signifies a crucial maturation point for the technology, indicating that it has moved beyond experimental phases and is now firmly establishing itself as a vital component of modern industrial processes. The report specifically projects that the industry’s growth rate will stabilize at a consistent pace of approximately 12.5% annually for the foreseeable future, a strong indicator of market confidence and increasing adoption.

These optimistic projections translate into substantial financial figures. Deloitte anticipates that sales directly related to 3D printing technologies will exceed $2.4 billion in 2019, further climbing to surpass the $3 billion mark by 2020. To put these figures into perspective, while the entire global manufacturing sector generates an astounding $12 trillion annually, the steady expansion of the additive manufacturing segment, even as a fraction of this colossal market, underscores its growing strategic importance. This growth trajectory aligns closely with previous industry forecasts, including those from the Gartner Hype Cycle for 2019, which similarly highlighted an expanding market for additive manufacturing. Specific areas of consensus between Deloitte and Gartner include the significant potential within the medical field for 3D printing, the accelerating prominence of metal 3D printing, and the intriguing future prospects of 4D printing. Deloitte’s report thus reinforces the idea that 3D printing is reaching a “plateau of productivity,” a phase where its practical applications and proven value reaffirm its authority and indispensability in the market. A continuous influx of new companies entering the AM market, driven by innovation and demand, is expected to further fuel this expanding ecosystem.

Deloitte’s robust predictions are not based on speculation but are meticulously constructed using a comprehensive dataset. Their methodology involves aggregating financial information from the largest publicly traded companies operating within the additive manufacturing space, alongside consensus analyst estimates, spanning a period from 2014 to the present. This extensive historical data enables Deloitte to accurately chart trends and forecast future developments. In 2014, for instance, the total valuation of AM companies was estimated at $1.6 billion. The period between 2014 and 2016 saw these companies’ revenues expand progressively, achieving a respectable 5% growth. By 2017, this growth rate impressively accelerated to 12.5%, a figure that Deloitte now projects as the stable annual growth rate. This historical progression clearly demonstrates the industry’s upward trajectory, culminating in the predicted revenues of $2.7 billion in 2019 and a projected $3 billion in 2020.

Reasons Behind the Sustained Growth of the Additive Manufacturing Market

The question naturally arises: what factors are fueling this consistent and significant growth? While 3D printing might have initially suffered from being “overhyped” in its nascent stages, leading to unrealistic expectations, current growth is firmly rooted in tangible technological advancements and expanding capabilities. Deloitte identifies two primary drivers: a considerably wider range of sophisticated 3D printers and an ever-increasing diversity of compatible materials. These twin pillars of innovation are transforming the landscape of additive manufacturing, making it more accessible, efficient, and versatile than ever before.

Advancements in 3D Printer Technology

Modern 3D printers are delivering unprecedented levels of performance. Key improvements include significantly greater printing speeds, which have effectively doubled since 2014. This acceleration is crucial for industrial adoption, as it reduces production lead times and makes additive manufacturing viable for higher volume production runs. Manufacturers across the globe have prioritized this aspect, investing heavily in research and development to optimize print head movements, material extrusion rates, and curing processes. Concurrently, the build volume capabilities of 3D printers have dramatically risen. Larger build envelopes allow for the production of bigger, more complex parts, or the simultaneous manufacturing of multiple smaller components, enhancing efficiency and expanding the range of possible applications. These combined improvements in speed and scale are instrumental in moving 3D printing from a prototyping tool to a robust manufacturing method.

Expanding Horizons of 3D Printing Materials

Parallel to printer advancements, the expansion in compatible 3D printing materials has been nothing short of impressive. Over the past five years alone, the list of available materials has effectively doubled, offering engineers and designers an unprecedented palette of options. Deloitte, consistent with Gartner’s Hype Cycle, emphasizes that metal is emerging as the dominant focus for the coming years. This shift is profound, with predictions suggesting that metal 3D printing could soon surpass plastic 3D printing in market share, potentially representing more than half of all 3D printing activities within the next two years. The ability to print intricate and lightweight metal components with high strength and durability has opened doors in critical industries such as aerospace, automotive, and medical devices. However, it is vital not to underestimate the continuous innovation occurring in other material categories. High-performance thermoplastics, for example, are becoming increasingly sophisticated, offering properties like exceptional strength-to-weight ratios, chemical resistance, and biocompatibility, making them indispensable for specific high-demand applications.

Evolving Market Share and the Rise of Binder Jetting

The changing market share dynamics vividly illustrate the industry’s evolution. The share of metal 3D printing has notably increased from 28% to 36%, signaling a clear industry pivot towards metallic applications. Conversely, the market share attributed to plastics has diminished from a dominant 88% to 65%. While plastics still hold the larger share, the trajectory indicates a diversification and a growing maturity in metal additive manufacturing. Furthermore, 2019 is highlighted as a pivotal year for a more recent and highly promising technology: binder jet metal printing. This method, known for its ability to produce metal parts at a lower cost and higher speed compared to other metal AM processes, is poised to become widely available. Its widespread adoption is expected to significantly accelerate the growth and accessibility of metal 3D printing, further cementing its role in industrial production.

Will 3D Printing Fully Replace Traditional Manufacturing? Deloitte’s Nuanced View

A frequently debated question within the manufacturing community is whether additive manufacturing will eventually supersede conventional production methods. Deloitte’s comprehensive report offers a clear and nuanced conclusion on this matter. While today’s increasingly complex production and sustainment environments are undeniably pushing organizations to integrate 3D printing into their supply chain and manufacturing operations, the report asserts that 3D printing will *not* completely replace traditional manufacturing. This perspective acknowledges the inherent strengths and established efficiencies of traditional methods, particularly for mass production of standardized components.

In addressing the idea of 3D printing “taking over,” the report emphatically states, “That likely isn’t going to happen. Instead, companies and industries will always have to deal with a mixed manufacturing world, which is much more complex and difficult to manage.” This insight is crucial for understanding the future of manufacturing. Traditional methods excel in economies of scale for high-volume, uniform part production, often offering lower per-unit costs for simple geometries. Additive manufacturing, on the other hand, shines in areas like customization, rapid prototyping, producing complex geometries unattainable by conventional means, reducing material waste, and enabling on-demand production closer to the point of use. The integration of these two distinct paradigms creates a “mixed manufacturing world,” where organizations leverage the strengths of both. This hybrid approach allows for optimized production strategies, combining cost-effectiveness for standard parts with the flexibility and innovation potential of 3D printing for specialized, complex, or low-volume components. Managing such a diverse ecosystem, however, presents its own set of challenges, including supply chain integration, quality control, and workforce training. The true innovation lies not in one technology replacing the other, but in their synergistic application to create more resilient, efficient, and innovative manufacturing ecosystems. As Deloitte rightly notes, only time will fully reveal the ultimate balance and evolution of this dynamic interplay.

You can find Deloitte’s full 2019 Technology, Media & Telecommunications Predictions HERE for more in-depth analysis and future outlooks.

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