2021: What to watch out for in additive manufacturing

The year 2020 was eventful and unpredictable to say the least. However, the additive manufacturing industry adapted to these changes surprisingly quickly, and was able to stay afloat. If you remember, many of the needs in the healthcare sector were initially met through the efforts of users of 3D printing. On the other hand, global supply chains that relied on traditional methods suffered immensely during this time.

In a recent piece, we looked at the trends that shaped the industry in 2020. We noticed some trends were natural continuations of shifts that had started a few years ago, such as the growing move from prototyping to end-use applications, whilst others were newer. As we enter the 4th decade of 3D printing, and with recent events, we also enter a decade that has the potential for renewal. To wrap up 2020, we decided to get in touch with some important players in the field of AM to ask them about their vision of the state of 3D printing and their new year wishes. Make way for 2021!

AM showed it was a technology able to provide meaningful solutions to emerging challenges, including supply chain challenges.

Data-rich additive manufacturing: AI, process control, simulation software

DyeMansion, which raised $14M in 2020 for its AM finishing systems, understands the key position of post-processing in adding value to the AM process. CTO and Co-Founder Phillip Kramer explains: “Combined with further automation and innovations in the post-processing sector, 3D-printing is getting much closer to being recognized as a true industrial manufacturing technology. To realize the potential of those innovations, forming strong alliances between different solution providers is necessary.” Even today, many applications will fail because they are not able to meet repeatability requirements. Producing consistent part quality every single time is still a challenge. Kramer adds: “Hopefully, with more and more machines in the market and more data to be analyzed by AI-based algorithms, we can get closer to predictable part quality in 2021. When you combine new systems with intelligent process control, many applications will finally unlock in the years following 2021.”