Additive Manufacturing Market Size, Share, Forecast, & Trends Analysis by Offering (Hardware, Software, Materials, Services), Form (Solid Material, Liquid Material, Powder Material), End User (Consumer Products, Healthcare, General Manufacturing) - Global Forecast to 2031

Additive Manufacturing Market Size & Forecast

The Additive Manufacturing Market is expected to reach above $228.8 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 27.9% from 2024 to 2031. The growth of the additive manufacturing market is driven by the rising need to produce complex parts, reduce manufacturing expenses, and minimize waste, improvements in product development and supply chains, and easy customization and bulk production using additive manufacturing. Furthermore, the growing use of 3D printers to produce functional end-use parts and composite 3D printing is expected to offer significant growth opportunities for players operating in the additive manufacturing market.

Additive Manufacturing Market Growth Drivers

Improvements in Product Development and Supply Chains

Advancements in product development and supply chain management are significant drivers of growth in the additive manufacturing market. Additive manufacturing allows for rapid prototyping, enabling companies to iterate and test designs quickly and cost-effectively. This speed and flexibility reduce time-to-market for new products. Additive manufacturing technologies can create highly complex geometries that traditional manufacturing methods struggle with. This freedom of design enables the creation of products with enhanced functionality and performance.

Additive manufacturing also enables the digital storage and on-demand production of spare parts, reducing the need for extensive inventory storage and ensuring the availability of parts for older or low-volume products. Moreover, AM allows for on-demand production, reducing the need for large inventories and minimizing the risk of overproduction or stockouts. Such factors help to drive the growth of the additive manufacturing market during the forecast period.

Easy Customization and Bulk Production Using Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing (AM) allows for the production of highly customized and individualized products. Whether it's personalized consumer goods, customized medical implants, or tailored automotive components, AM technology enables manufacturers to meet specific customer needs and preferences. Unlike traditional manufacturing methods, which often require costly tooling changes for customization, AM offers design freedom. This flexibility allows for rapid iteration and adaptation of products without the need for extensive retooling. While AM is often associated with customization, it can also excel in bulk production scenarios. Depending on the technology and materials used, additive manufacturing processes can achieve high throughput and efficiency, making them suitable for mass production.

Moreover, additive manufacturing makes it more feasible to produce customized products on a large scale. By leveraging digital design and manufacturing processes, companies can efficiently produce large quantities of unique items tailored to individual customers or market segments.

Additive Manufacturing Market Opportunity

Growing Use of 3D Printers to Produce Functional End-use Parts

The growing use of 3D printers to produce functional end-use parts presents a significant opportunity in the additive manufacturing market. As 3D printing technology advances, its capabilities for producing functional end-use parts have expanded across various industries, including aerospace, automotive, healthcare, consumer goods, and more. This versatility opens up a wide range of opportunities for manufacturers to leverage AM to produce parts that meet stringent performance requirements. The development of new materials suitable for 3D printing has been pivotal in enabling the production of functional end-use parts. These materials offer a balance of properties such as strength, durability, heat resistance, and chemical resistance, making them suitable for a broader range of applications. As material science continues to evolve, we can expect further improvements in the performance and suitability of materials for end-use parts.

Moreover, using 3D printing technology for functional end-use parts can result in significant cost and time savings compared to traditional manufacturing methods. By eliminating the need for tooling, reducing material waste, and streamlining production processes, companies can achieve greater efficiency and lower production costs. Such factors help to provide lucrative growth opportunities in the additive manufacturing market.

Composite 3D Printing

Composite 3D printing involves the fabrication of objects using more than one material in a single printing process. Unlike traditional 3D printing, which typically uses a single material such as plastic or metal, composite 3D printing allows for the integration of different materials with varying properties into a single printed object. This capability is particularly valuable in applications requiring specific material combinations or graded material transitions, such as biomedical implants, heat exchangers, and electronic devices. Composite 3D printing allows for the creation of complex geometries and structures that are difficult or impossible to achieve with conventional manufacturing methods. This design freedom enables engineers to optimize part performance and functionality while reducing material usage, assembly requirements, and overall production costs.

While composite materials may initially have higher material costs than traditional materials, the ability to produce lightweight, high-performance parts with reduced material waste and assembly requirements can lead to long-term cost savings. Additionally, advancements in composite 3D printing technology are driving down production costs and making the process more accessible to a wider range of industries and applications. Such factors help to drive the growth of composite 3D printing, which provides lucrative growth opportunities in the additive manufacturing market.

Additive Manufacturing Market Challenges

Concerns about Piracy and Unauthorized Distribution

Design files can be illegally shared online, allowing individuals to produce copyrighted objects without permission from the original creators. This undermines the economic interests of designers and rights holders. Also, enforcing copyright laws in the context of additive manufacturing can be challenging due to the decentralized nature of digital file sharing and manufacturing. Identifying and prosecuting individuals or entities engaged in copyright infringement can be time-consuming and resource-intensive, particularly when dealing with cross-border violations.

Additive Manufacturing Market Analysis: Key Findings

By Offering: In 2024, the Hardware Segment to Dominate the Additive Manufacturing Market

Based on offering, the global additive manufacturing market is segmented into hardware, software, materials, and services. Furthermore, the materials market is segmented into plastics and polymers, metals, ceramics, composites, and other material types. In 2024, the hardware segment is expected to account for the largest share of above 60.0% of the global additive manufacturing market. The growth of this segment is attributed to various factors, such as additive manufacturing enabling decentralized production and on-demand manufacturing, reducing reliance on traditional supply chains, and lowering inventory costs. As companies seek to optimize their supply chains and respond quickly to market demands. The ability of additive manufacturing to produce highly customized and personalized products at scale drives demand for additive manufacturing hardware. Also, industries such as healthcare, consumer goods, and automotive leverage 3D printing technology to create bespoke products tailored to individual preferences and requirements. Such factors help to drive the growth of the additive manufacturing hardware market during the forecast period.

However, the materials segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. This segment's growth can be attributed to factors such as advancements in additive manufacturing technology, increasing adoption of manufacturing across various industries, cost reduction of additive manufacturing materials, including raw material costs, processing costs, and waste reduction, and increasing focus on sustainability additive manufacturing materials, including biodegradable polymers and recycled materials.

By Form: In 2024, the Solid Material Segment to Dominate the Additive Manufacturing Market

Based on form, the global additive manufacturing market is segmented into solid material, liquid material, and powder material. In 2024, the solid material segment is expected to account for the largest share of above 44.0% of the global additive manufacturing market. The growth of this segment is attributed to the rising demand for solid materials with superior mechanical properties, including strength, ductility, fatigue resistance, and corrosion resistance, which influences material selection and market growth.

However, the powder material segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to various factors, as powder materials play a crucial role in various additive manufacturing processes, especially in powder bed fusion techniques like selective laser sintering (SLS) and selective laser melting (SLM). Also, the ability to reuse or recycle powder material is easy and it is essential for cost-effectiveness and sustainability. Some additive manufacturing processes allow for the recycling of unused powder, reducing material waste and production costs.

By End User: In 2024, the General Manufacturing Segment to Dominate the Additive Manufacturing Market

Based on end user, the global additive manufacturing market is segmented into consumer products, healthcare, automotive, general manufacturing, electronics & semiconductors, aerospace & defense, research and development, chemicals & materials, energy, oil & gas, and other industrial end users. In 2024, the general manufacturing segment is expected to account for the largest share of above 23.0% of the global additive manufacturing market. The growth of this segment is attributed to various factors, as additive manufacturing facilitates lightweighting and material optimization by enabling the creation of lattice structures, topology-optimized designs, and complex internal geometries. Additive manufacturing enables the production of complex geometries and intricate designs that are difficult to achieve using traditional manufacturing methods. Design flexibility allows for innovative product designs, lightweight structures, and customized solutions tailored to specific applications. Such factors help to improve the growth of additive manufacturing in the general manufacturing industry during the forecast period.

However, the automotive segment is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growth of this segment can be attributed to various factors, as additive manufacturing is utilized for rapid tooling and fixture production in automotive manufacturing processes. AM allows automotive engineers to optimize component performance and integrate multiple functions into a single part. Moreover, automotive manufacturers and aftermarket suppliers leverage AM to produce spare parts, replacement components, and obsolete parts on demand. AM enables decentralized production, inventory optimization, and cost-effective spare parts management, ensuring supply chain resilience and customer satisfaction. Such factors help to improve the growth of additive manufacturing in the automotive industry during the forecast period.

Geographical Analysis

In 2024, Asia-Pacific to Dominate the Additive Manufacturing Market

In 2024, Asia-Pacific is expected to account for the largest share of above 36.0% of the global additive manufacturing market. The large share of the Asia-Pacific market is attributed to the rapid developments in the manufacturing sector in Asia-Pacific with growing interests in new technologies for efficient production. Additionally, increased digitization has fueled the growth and adoption of additive manufacturing for end-use industries such as consumer goods, construction, medical, electronics and semiconductor, and research and education. Moreover, the Asia-Pacific region has a vibrant startup ecosystem with a growing number of additive manufacturing startups specializing in 3D manufacturing. These startups drive innovation, competition, and collaboration in the additive manufacturing market, contributing to market growth.

However, the market in North America is projected to register the highest CAGR of 29.0% during the forecast period. This segment's large market share is attributed to the presence of key market players in the region and the growing demand for customized 3D-printed products in the region across healthcare, consumer electronics, aerospace & defense, and automotive sectors. The region is also growing in its adoption of industrialization 4.0 and increasing collaborations and investments by enterprises in the development of advanced 3D printing and its materials.

Additive Manufacturing Market: Key Companies

The report offers a competitive analysis based on an extensive assessment of the product portfolios and geographic presence of leading market players and the key growth strategies adopted by them over the past 3–4 years. Some of the key players operating in the additive manufacturing market are 3D Systems Corporation (U.S.), 3DCeram (France), Arcam AB (Sweden), Autodesk, Inc. (U.S.), Canon Inc. (Japan), Dassault Systèmes SE (France), Stratasys, Ltd. (U.S.), voxeljet AG (Germany), ExOne Operating, LLC (U.S.), MakerBot Industries, LLC (U.S.), Materialise NV (Belgium), EOS GmbH (Germany), Optomec, Inc., (U.S.), Proto Labs, Inc. (U.S.), Shapeways Holdings, Inc. (U.S.).

Additive Manufacturing Industry Overview: Latest Developments from Key Industry Players

• In April 2024, Materialise (Belgium), a global leader in 3D printing software and services, announced a partnership with Renishaw (U.K.), a global engineering technologies company. The partnership will increase efficiency and productivity for manufacturers using Renishaw's additive manufacturing (AM) systems. Through the partnership, Renishaw system users will benefit from Materialise's next-generation build processor software tailored to the RenAM 500 series of metal AM systems.

• In March 2024, 3DEO (U.S.) announced a strategic partnership and investment with IHI AEROSPACE (IA) (Japan), an aerospace engineering and manufacturing company, to bolster the adoption and implementation of AM technologies by IA, tapping into 3DEO’s expertise in Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) and technology differentiation.

• In June 2023, Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies (China) and Siemens (China) Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement to establish long-term strategic cooperation to promote digital factories and advance the production of metal additive manufacturing equipment.
• In April 2023, Oqton (U.S.), a software provider helping manufacturers increase innovation and efficiency by intelligently automating production, announced a partnership with Castor Technologies Ltd. (Israel), an automated software company. Under this, the integration of CASTOR’s software with Oqton’s Manufacturing OS offers a seamless solution for manufacturing contractors and organizations to evaluate and analyze the business case and technical feasibility of using additives for manufacturing.

Additive Manufacturing Market Research Summary:

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