The Cumulative Benefits of Additive Manufacturing: The True Added Value of the Technology

In its latest report on trends in additive manufacturing, Jabil drew up a picture of the uses and practices of more than 300 professionals who have decided to bet on 3D printing. A few months later, it looks back at the main applications of the market by asking the following question: what is the real value of additive manufacturing? Is it in rapid prototyping? Is it in tooling applications? How do we measure its impact on the entire value chain? While many believe that the impact of additive manufacturing lies in the product development phase, particularly in terms of cost and time, in reality, according to Jabil, one should analyze the ongoing, cumulative downstream benefits of the technology, regardless of the application.

In terms of the use of additive manufacturing, the current trend is toward industrialization, with more production of small and medium-sized runs of finished, ready-to-use parts. Users are looking for repeatability and automation in their processes to increase the printing of finished parts – in fact, 81% of participants in Jabil’s study expect the use of 3D printing for production to at least double in the next three to five years. Rapid prototyping remains the most important application when evaluating different market shares, but it is stagnating.

How is 3D printing used in businesses? Prototyping is often the first application (photo credits: Jabil)

The Added Value of 3D Printing in the Prototyping Phase

The use of 3D printing in rapid prototyping is obviously beneficial in terms of cost and time: teams can design iterations faster, test and evaluate multiple concepts easily and correct any defects in record time. These are widely known benefits that have led to the adoption of additive manufacturing in-house for many companies. But we need to broaden the scope and consider the entire value chain.