The 2024 Additive Manufacturing (AM) Investment Strategies event went off without a hitch. The online roundtable, hosted by AM Research (AMR) and Cantor Fitzgerald, dug into the latest trends and challenges. This year, the event was moderated by Troy Jensen, Managing Director at Cantor Fitzgerald, and featured panelists including Materialise CEO Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, Stratasys Chief Industrial Business Officer Rich Garrity, 3D Systems CEO Jeff Graves, Nikon SLM Solutions CEO Sam O’Leary, AM Ventures Managing Partner Arno Held, and AMR Executive VP of Research Scott Dunham. Their insights highlighted the state of additive manufacturing and offered a preview of what’s to come at Formnext 2024, one of the largest global gatherings for the industry.

Industry Transformation and Challenges

Opening remarks by Sascha Wenzler, Vice President of Formnext, set the stage by acknowledging the transformative phase AM is currently undergoing. The additive industry, like much of the manufacturing sector, is grappling with economic and geopolitical challenges. Wenzler, who will now co-lead the event with Mesago veteran Christoph Stüker, pointed out that AM is on a path of progressive industrialization, a shift that demands companies adapt to production-scale manufacturing and an industrial-level environment. This period of transformation also includes a wave of consolidation within the sector, as smaller companies and startups struggle in a competitive landscape with numerous vendors but limited profitability.

This consolidation and industrialization push reflects broader market conditions. Despite challenges, Wenzler highlighted promising signs, such as the VDMA autumn survey, which shows optimism for the coming year, potentially signaling stronger market conditions for the AM sector in 2025.

Emphasis on Cost, Quality, and Expertise

Panelist discussions revealed three key areas holding back greater adoption of AM technologies: cost, quality, and expertise. Brigitte de Vet-Veithen of Materialise pointed out that while additive manufacturing offers tremendous potential, companies face high costs and a lack of skilled professionals able to develop and operate advanced AM systems.

Materialise CEO Brigitte de Vet-Veithen at Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2024. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com/Ashley Alleyne.

Materialise is working to address these barriers with its Magic SDK, a software development kit that allows users to customize workflows, making AM operations more efficient and cost-effective. This year’s Formnext will see further advancements in this software, particularly aimed at simplifying metal printing processes, a move expected to reduce post-processing demands and overall cost. De Vet-Veithen emphasized that to scale adoption, the industry needs to “take cost out of the system” and better address expertise gaps, noting, “It’s hard to find enough skilled people to actually do additive at a high level.”

Advances in Metal Additive Manufacturing

Metal AM received particular attention, with Scott Dunham noting that while hardware sales have slowed, demand for new materials is on the rise. While the overall hardware growth rate is stagnating, applications for metal parts are expanding, and interest in metal materials is surging.

Jeff Graves of 3D Systems echoed this sentiment, emphasizing that the market’s growing interest in practical applications is helping to open up new possibilities. According to Graves, customers are increasingly looking to integrate AM into their operations not only for unique parts but also for everyday, workhorse components that can be printed on demand, reducing inventory costs.

“We’re now selling to plant managers who want to put these machines on the factory floor,” Graves said, highlighting that AM’s future lies in production-ready applications that require “a stable supply chain of technology and good service teams that can keep it running.”

SLM Solutions, represented by CEO Sam O’Leary, has focused on breaking down barriers within the metal AM sector by developing versatile machines that can handle a range of metal alloys and production needs. O’Leary emphasized the importance of developing machines that not only work with today’s alloys but also anticipate future demands by adapting to a wide range of powder types and sizes.

This adaptability, he said, could make AM a go-to solution for industries looking to lower material costs and increase manufacturing output. “The addressable market that we’re all trying and working hard to serve is simply way larger than anyone can imagine,” he stated, underscoring his bullish outlook on AM’s potential for long-term growth and expansion.

Collaboration and Open Systems in Polymer Printing

Polymer AM, according to Dunham, faces similar hurdles to metals but is also experiencing growth in materials and services, particularly in production applications. However, the high cost of polymer materials remains a significant obstacle. Stratasys is tackling this issue by developing partnerships that allow third-party suppliers to bring their materials onto its platforms. According to Rich Garrity, these partnerships are designed to give customers more choice, balancing high-end materials for sectors like aerospace and defense with more affordable, commodity materials for broader applications.

Materialise’s Brigitte de Vet-Veithen suggested that the industry could benefit from a shift towards more collaborative efforts, calling for an “open systems” approach where software and hardware solutions are designed to work seamlessly across multiple platforms. She compared this strategy to Tesla’s approach in the automotive industry, where making proprietary technologies available to others has helped accelerate overall market growth.

Notable Applications and Innovations in AM

Held and other panelists highlighted a range of innovative applications that have emerged from the metal and polymer AM sectors. Heat exchangers are a prominent example, with companies like Conflux developing specialized exchangers for industries ranging from automotive to chemical processing. Similarly, new applications are being explored in the mold and die industry, where cold metal fusion technology is allowing for the production of highly durable parts like cobblestones and mining equipment. Another interesting example is the use of AM to produce hollow excavator teeth for the mining industry, an application that highlights the material and structural benefits AM can bring to even the most rugged industries.

Lean Plastics Technologies, a portfolio company of AM Ventures, offers a promising innovation in the production of affordable polymer powders, including the much-desired polypropylene. The company has developed a process that not only reduces production costs but also allows for recycling of powder-based polymers, addressing two critical industry needs: cost reduction and sustainability.

The Future of Consolidation and Profitability

As the discussion drew to a close, the panelists addressed the issue of consolidation. The panelists agreed that consolidation could offer a path to profitability but acknowledged that its benefits vary depending on each company’s strategy. According to de Vet-Veithen, what AM really needs is not just consolidation but increased collaboration among companies to streamline processes and deliver cohesive, end-to-end solutions for users. The consensus was that larger, more established companies will continue to dominate the industry, while smaller vendors may find it harder to survive without merging or collaborating.

Arno Held added that the sheer number of machine vendors currently on the market can be overwhelming to customers, who are often unsure which companies will survive the next few years. Consolidation, he argued, could provide stability and clarity, enabling companies to focus on creating meaningful applications and addressing customers’ needs. “We don’t have to focus on ourselves as competitors,” Held said, “this market is so dramatically bigger out there than what we are fighting for right now.”

As the industry prepares for Formnext 2024, themes of collaboration, cost reduction, and an expanded focus on applications were central to the discussion. From promising innovations in metal and polymer materials to calls for more open and interoperable systems, it’s clear that AM is on the brink of a transformative phase. Companies that can adapt to the industrialized, application-driven demands of the market while addressing cost and quality concerns are likely to lead the charge. With consolidation on the horizon and collaboration increasingly becoming a necessity, the AM sector appears poised for growth—even in a challenging economic climate.