Five Global Trends in Additive Manufacturing for 2020
The end of the year and the end of a decade marks a good time for reflection and great time to ponder the upcoming year ahead. The authors have teamed up to bring their practical work experience in both conventional and advanced manufacturing to reflect on the last decade and look ahead to the next one specific to global trends in Additive Manufacturing (AM).
In the previous decade, we watched as Metal Additive Manufacturing maturated and began to be a viable manufacturing process. In the early part of the decade many firsts were achieved largely through the powder bed fusion (PBF) processes. From gas turbine engine parts to bits that replaced human bone, we saw metal AM make an appearance just about everywhere clever engineers could make a case. By 2017, it had gained legitimacy as a real manufacturing technology. In 2018, we continued to see strong, but likely over-stated valuation and investment. 2019 will be remembered as the year businesses decided to treat it as a business.