PUBLISHER: Additive Manufacturing Research | PRODUCT CODE: 1134397
PUBLISHER: Additive Manufacturing Research | PRODUCT CODE: 1134397
Post-Processing for Additive Manufacturing: Market Analysis and Forecast
This report provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the changing market dynamics that are causing additional emphasis of these operational steps, a review of the top suppliers of post-processing equipment and services, and a series of market forecasts examining year over year trends and industry breakdowns. The report is authored by Mike Vasquez, PhD, founder of noted industry consultancy 3Degrees.
The report also details the roles and requirements for 3D printing post-processing, a critical yet often overlooked part of the overall additive manufacturing workflow. The term encompasses a broad set of operations after any part comes out of the printer. This can include cleaning, coloring, surface finishing, curing, heat treating, and other manufacturing operations.
As materials and printing technologies have improved, new applications are within reach of the current cost and technical capabilities of additive manufacturing. One element that has helped to move this process along is the maturation of post-processing technologies for a variety of Additive Manufacturing printing modalities. For now, AM represents a small portion of the overall end-product manufacturing market, but that portion is growing.
In nearly all 3D-printing operations some amount of post processing is required to remove supports, excess powder, or basic curing. However, the industry has seen the evolution of printing-specific operations that target known shortcomings of AM parts, like surface roughness or material performance.
This report surveys the major companies providing services and products to directly target the post-processing operations involved in additive manufacturing, including but not limited to: AM-FLOW, AMT, DyeMansion, PostProcess, Solukon, Bel Air Finishing, Gasbarre, Hiperbaric, and MicroTek Finishing.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: The Need for Post-processing
- 1.1. The Role of Post-processing
- 1.2. Sustainability in Post-processing
- 1.3. Metal vs. Polymer in Post-processing
- 1.4. Factors Shaping the AM Post-processing Business
- 1.4.1. Post-processing Creating Value
- 1.4.2. Diverse Revenue Sources from Post-processing
- 1.4.3. Evolving Post-processing Industry Structure
- 1.5. Methodology of this Report
Chapter Two: Impact of Major Manufacturing Industry Trends on the Post-processing Space
- 2.1. Automation
- 2.2. Sustainability
- 2.3. Non-ecofriendly AM/Post-processing Technology
- 2.4. Longevity of Printed Parts
- 2.5. Customization
Chapter Three: Opportunities for Post-processing in Additive Manufacturing
- 3.1. Post-processing in the Context of 3D Printing Production
- 3.2. Extracting Value from Post-processing - Time and Costs are not Trivial
- 3.3. Post-processing Approaches Across Materials and Technologies
- 3.3.1. Cleaning
- 3.3.2. Fixing
- 3.3.3. Curing, Hardening, Surface Finishing and Heat Treatment
- 3.3.4. Coloring
- 3.4. Post-processing in AM Companies
- 3.4.1. Polymers
- 3.4.2. Metals
- 3.5. Growth of AM-specific Post-processing Technologies
- 3.6. Barriers to Entry for Post-processing
- 3.7. Role of Standardization and Post-processing for Overall AM Quality Management
Chapter Four: Key Hardware and Service Providers: Structure of the AM Post-processing Sector
- 4.1. Introduction
- 4.2. Structure of the AM Post-processing Industry
Chapter Five: Market Forecasts
- 5.1. Background to Forecasts
- 5.2. Polymer Post-processing Revenues: 2022-2031
- 5.3. Metal Post-processing Revenues: 2022-2031
- 5.4. Equipment Service Revenues
About SmarTech Analysis
About the Analyst
Acronyms and Abbreviations Used In this Report
List of Exhibits
- Exhibit 1-1: Three Factors Shaping the AM Post Processing Business
- Exhibit 3-1: Typical 3D Printing Workflow Information
- Exhibit 3-2: Post-processing by Type of Material
- Exhibit 3-3: Metal Powder Bed Fusion Workflow
- Exhibit 4-1: Prominent AM Post-processing Companies
- Exhibit 5-1: Polymer Post-processing Revenues ($ Millions)
