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3D printing profits
5 Ways How to Make Money with 3D Printing – A Neat Guide – 3D Printerly
You can make money 3D printing but it’s important to know that it’s not the easiest thing to do. It won’t simply be buying a 3D printer, looking at designs and selling them.
Making money will take a bit more than that, so I’ve decided to explore how people are making money 3D printing and how you can do it for yourself.
3D printing is a dynamic industry that can quickly be adapted to fit trends in other industries. It’s main advantage is the ability to be able to create a product within a short time frame.
Some people are able to scan an item, edit the model in a CAD software and set it in their slicer ready to print in a matter of 30 minutes. There are real potentials in being able to master these abilities and if done correctly, can make you a good amount of money.
If you are able to beat other suppliers to the market, you are in a position to gain significant benefits.
You don’t need an expensive printer to be able to create high quality items, as cheaper printers are matching the quality of premium ones.
How Much Money Can You Make With a 3D Printer?
With a standard 3D printer and a decent level of experience, you can expect to make between $4 an hour up to around $20 an hour depending on what your niche is and how well your operations are optimised.
It’s a good idea to set realistic expectations with how much money you can make.
The higher end of how much money you can make per hour will usually be for custom prototyping work. For the standard pieces such as toys, gadgets, models and so on, you’ll usually make around $3-$5 an hour so it’s not a good idea to quit your job for it just yet.
You can definitely get to a point where you have mastered your operations from designing, printing, deliveries and so on, to a point where you can expand to multiple printers and serve several regular clients.
This is where you can start to really see your profits per hour increase past that $20 mark.
Keep in mind, it’s difficult to find a market where your 3D printer will be running 24 hours at a time.
The general timing of how long your printer will run, depending on what niche your in is around 3-5 hours.
Now lets jump into the main 5 ways to make money from 3D printing.
1. Printing Models on Demand
I find that the best way to make money from 3D printing on demand is to narrow down your niche. 3D printing can join up with almost every niche out there, so it’s your job to find something that solves a problem, has a demand, and makes it worth your while.
Compared to traditional manufacturing methods, 3D printing loses when it comes to manufacturing speed, unit cost, consistency in tolerances and trustworthiness because the average person doesn’t know much about the field.
Where 3D printing does gain the advantage is design customisation, speed of a specific model rather than of each part, the range of materials used and colours available, and the fact that it’s a massively growing market.
It has massive advantages of being able to create items starting from an idea to a product in record timing.
An example of an idea that someone has used to make money 3D printing is creating and selling TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimensions In Space) rings. This is a niche product which uses a ‘Doctor Who’ concept and fan base to create a specific, low volume, highly demanded item to make money.
This is one of the main methods that people become successful making money.
There is no real benefit to 3D printing common items like holders or containers that don’t have any special function, because they are widely supplied and available at very cheap prices, unless they are custom. Basically something that people find valuable and unique to them.
How to Find People to Print For
The usual way people find others to print something in exchange for money is through online channels. This can range from Facebook groups, to forums, to online retailers and so on.
There are many designated websites which are designed exactly for this purpose and are good ways to build a reputation and rating around your work.
It’s important to focus on not just the quality of your product, but your overall customer service and experience from start to finish.
It will take some time to build up a reputation where people will start asking you to get specific work done, but once you get to that stage, you have a great potential to have a consistent income through 3D printing.
Other than online, you can always ask the people around you such as friends, family and work colleagues. This one can be a little more difficult because you’ll have to explain what services you can offer and they will have to come back to you for a project that you could help them with.
One example is where an individual had some curtains which he wanted the ability to pull back when opened. There are many options for this but he wanted a specific design which he couldn’t find.
The person who had the 3D printer in this situation had a conversation with the guy and worked on a solution for custom pullbacks for his curtain.
A few drafts were designed, which were to his liking and he printed them out for a nice amount of money, for his time, effort and the product itself.
2. Sell 3D Print Designs (CAD)
This is more focused on the design process rather than the actual 3D printing but it’s still within the confines of the 3D printing process.
The simple concept here is that people have pictures of something they want to 3D print but need the actual design made through a CAD program.
You simply design the product, then sell that design to the person for an agreed upon price and profit.
The good thing about this is you have the ability to sell this more than once since it’s your own property that you created. You also don’t have the downsides of prints failing because it’s all set in one digital program which can easily be edited.
At first, you may be relatively slow at getting designs completed so it’s good to start with the basics if you don’t already have experience.
There are many beginner-friendly CAD software and video guides to get you at a good level to make marketable designs.
Websites such as Thingiverse exist as an archive of 3D designs that can be downloaded and printed.
There are archives of 3D designs which you can display for people to look at, and if they like the design, can purchase for a fee usually in the range of $1 to $30 and some in the hundreds for large, complex designs.
It’s a good idea to use some of the designs you see on these websites as inspiration and a guide on what is popular and what people are actually buying.
Creating a design just because you like it isn’t always the best idea. A bit of research should be involved before you find an actual product to create, but all the practice you can get will help your journey.
You have many channels and tutorials on YouTube and other places which you can slowly gain an understanding of how to design things.
This will take time to learn so you’ll need patience, but once you get started, you’ll only get better and more refined in your abilities, leading to you having the potential to make more money.
There are 3D printed design marketplaces all over the web where you can find people who want designs done, or sell your own designs that you think people will want to buy.
The best thing about this method is it’s ability to earn you passive income. Once your model is completed and set up on a website for people to view, the main work is done. People are free to purchase your model without you having to talk to clients, discuss licensing and all the other stuff.
Also the costs of doing this are very low, as most design software is free to use so it only costs you in time spent designing.
Best Places to Sell 3D Models Online
- Cults3D
- Pinshape
- Threeding
- Embodi3D
- TurboSquid (Professional)
- CGTrader
- Shapeways
- I.Materialise
- Daz 3D
- 3DExchange
3. Sell Your Own Niche 3D Print Creations (E-Commerce) Manufacture Your Own Product
Put simply, this is building yourself a brand through 3D printed products.
Rather than print to other people’s specifications, you create your own products and market it out to your potential target audience.
There is a wide variety of products and niches you can get into. The best method is to stick to one niche that you can see growing in popularity and get better at your craft. This will allow you to build up a following and a community behind your products. Once your products are up to scratch, you find a few customers through marketing, you will be on a good path to success.
You don’t just have one way of making this work, you can take many angles.
Think of ideas that will make you unique, to the point that it’s worth that extra value and has demand.
What Can I Make and Sell With a 3D Printer?
- Customized shoes (flip flops)
- Architecture models – produce buildings of sizes and styles
- Robotic kits
- Vases, aesthetic items
- Drone parts
- Custom buds for high end earphones
- Making fetuses come to life with the 3D files and printing them, unique product.
- Ornaments and jewelry
- Movie, theater props (keep legal in mind) – workshops or camps to be a vendor for props for them
- Nerf guns – massive gains in popularity (child toys up to office action)
- Miniatures/Terrain
- Logo stamp maker for companies or office logo decorations
- Custom cookie cutters
- Lithophane photos and cubes
- Vehicle accessories
- Personalized gifts
- Plane and train models
Where Can I Sell My 3D Printed Items?
Not everyone has the experience building a website for eCommerce so simply using one of the popular websites out there to sell your products is a good idea.
The main places where people sell their 3D printed items are Amazon, eBay, Etsy and in person. All3DP have a great article about selling your 3D printed items.
People already have trust in these big names so it reduces how much work you need to do to get products sold. You should know the demographic of your target audience and match it to specific places to sell your product.
If you get to a point where your printed product is very popular, you can demo it to distributors and retailers.
The thing to keep in mind here though, is that they will only place an order when they are aware it can be mass produced.
Tips for Creating Your Own Products
Establish a website niche where you create items that people will like, based on research, market knowledge, and history of what has worked before.
Try hopping on a trend.
An example of a trend is just like when fidget spinners were popular. The trick is to make something that’s custom or not the usual product being sold at very competitive prices.
For fidget spinners, a great idea would be using glow in the dark filament so you have unique fidget spinners that can make it worth while printing and selling to people.
Another thing you can print is drone parts, which have a big crossover with 3D printing. People realise that rather than paying a massive premium for a drone part, they can get it cheaper by getting someone to 3D print it for them.
They are usually very uniquely shaped parts which are difficult to get singularly, so there is a lot of potential here.
On top of this, you still have the ability to customize it to increase it’s value.
The bottom line is you need to find a product that people actually want, which isn’t too hard to find with a little searching around, then make it your own.
Find a high demand product that’s already out there and make it different.
Another angle you can take is the inventor side of things and catching on to the next hot product.
If you can make an adapter for some new electronic product that everyone is starting to get, you can get ahead of the curve and create that file then print it.
With a bit of marketing or sharing with people, you should be able to find your audience and start making sales.
You Will Have To Keep Motivated To Thrive
It will take time to start making money. You have to spend time in designing your product, printing it, post-processing, taking pictures of it, then appealing to the buyer enough for them to purchase.
This is more a personal journey where you’ll be making your own product in house. The way to come up with a product is by looking at where there are gaps in the market, meaning where is there a high amount of demand and a low supply.
If you hit a few of these gaps and market properly to your target audience, you can really make a good amount of money.
Once you are more established, you can reinvest your profits into more 3D printers and better material so you can boost your profits even more. When you hit a good rhythm of orders, prints and deliveries, you can really expand and look to move things into a certified business.
It’s important to not put all of your eggs into one basket when it comes to ideas. Many ideas won’t work as well as you think, so you need to be willing to fail, and try again, but not at a high cost.
Instead of jumping all in, simply try the idea on the surface with a few resources and see how far you can get it.
You should be able to see a decent potential to make money before using too many resources in an idea that may not work.
You won’t be successful with every idea, but the more experience you have, the more likely you will be to hit that golden idea.
It does take some trial and error, and you will have issues along the way, but keep focused and you’ll reap the benefits.
4. Teaching 3D Printing to Others (Education)
There are many different ways to make this method work. It can range from creating a YouTube channel to creating an E-learning course, to creating tools that educate people on learning how to 3D print.
If you have the skills and knowledge you can teach classes in your community. Some people have used their college to teach 3D printing classes to members of the local community, with a 90 minute class costing each person $15. They would have a maximum of 8 students per class and would make a neat $120 for 90 minutes of work.
This is especially great since once you have your lesson plan up to scratch, you can easily re-use it for classes in the future. You also have the option of creating a few levels of classes, beginner, intermediate and advanced if you have the resources.
If you’re delivering good quality information, you can start to market your classes and soon enough, it should spread through word of mouth or a Facebook group that’s gaining traction.
A better idea is to make this a passive type of income, where you don’t have to directly trade your time for money.
A good way to do this is to record 3D printer informational videos for an online class marketplace, good ones being Udemy, ShareTribe and Skillshare.
You create a plan and a journey for users to take where you can teach them something you think is valuable, whether it be the basics or something more advanced.
If you find an informational gap where people have trouble doing one of the main tasks for 3D printing such as 3D design or getting high quality prints you can walk people through this.
It will take some time to get the initial content created for this, but once it’s done you have a product you can sell forever and make passive regular income.
5.
3D Printer Consultant to Design Companies (Prototyping etc.)Put simply, this is finding people that need someone to create prototypes for them and their business and is usually at a fairly tight deadline. This isn’t a regular job but more of a side hustle to the main income.
It usually involves someone sending you a sketch, a picture, or giving you details of an idea that they have and want you to create the product for them.
It takes quite a bit of skill and experience to be able to do this as you’ll need to design the CAD product, set it in your slicer, print it at a decent quality then post-processing to make it look presentable.
If you don’t have the experience, it can definitely be gained with some practice of your own.
Try designing things that you see around you and see if you can replicate it to a good standard. You can then build up a portfolio of your designs and prints to show your skills, making it more likely that people will be interested in having you create for them.
Here you can offer your 3D printing services to specific companies that would find it valuable in their business.
Depending on what type of business it is, you can maybe offer to do all of their prototyping so they don’t have to worry about tracking down other services to get their work done.
As long as you can provide a high quality service with great prints, then you should be able to continue your work consulting for different companies.
Build up a solid portfolio and you can get up to a standard where other people will market for you, simply through word of mouth and creating a name for yourself in a specific industry.
Tips for Making Money 3D Printing
Focus on Relationships Rather Than Just the Business.
Let people know what you have going on, and whether you can be of service to them or someone else they know. People are more likely to react positively to you when you come on the angle of being helpful, rather than chasing down business opportunities.
It will make a difference to your reputation and how well you will succeed in the future. One of these previous relationships can really help to develop yourself and your business in the future, so keep this in mind.
Don’t Lie Dormant with Your Creative Abilities.
You should be thinking up new ideas daily and implementing them to see if you can truly create helpful items that give people value. This can range from items that you personally think will work, to ideas that you might think of through normal conversations with people throughout your day.
For example, if one of your friends complains about how he always drops an item of his, you can design a stand or an anti-movement product that solves this issue. It’s these small things that put you in that entrepreneurial mindset that keeps you ahead of the curve.
Focus on What Resources You Have
You shouldn’t worry about the capabilities that you don’t have, focus on what you can bring to the table with your resources and build around that.
Just because you see other 3D printer creators with expensive machines and different ways of printing doesn’t mean that’s what you need to have.
I’d be more inclined to see it as a goal to where you can be in the future, rather than having to be there now to compete. There is enough space for plenty of people to enter this market, as long as the demand is there so stay in your lane and do it well.
Once you get to the stage that you have a few orders coming in, you want to make sure you keep on top of it by having products on hand. You don’t want to get caught off-guard where you’re distracted by life activities and you are behind on delivery times.
It’s a good idea keeping at least a few products on hand and ready to ship if you have it listed.
Focus on Operations Rather Than Profit
You want to understand the ins and outs of your 3D printer and your operations. You want to know how often your prints fail, how to store filament, what materials work the best and at what temperatures.
The environment of your printing area, is it benefiting prints or making them worse. Working on each aspect of your 3D printing process will only make you more efficient and give you the ability to create higher quality products.
Once you are at a good level in your printing journey, you know you have the needed consistency to begin making profits.
It’s important to know that the items you are looking to print should be things that you have designed and not just taken from another designer.
This can land you in legal troubles depending on what licensing the designer has given out. Sometimes they allow for commercial use.
You can always consult with the designer and work out a deal, but it’s usually in your best interest to design your own work.
Turn Your Passion into a Habit
If you aren’t already into 3D printing and don’t admire the process of it, it’s unlikely that you’ll have the passion to be able to carry things on to the point where you are making money.
Being able to turn your passion of 3D printing into a habit and activity you enjoy will keep you going, past the mistakes.
It’s the dedication and passion that will keep you going, even when things seem bleak and like there is little chance of being successful. It’s the people who can get past these stages that will come out on top.
Is 3D Printing Business Profitable? 2022 Market Analysis
WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF 3D PRINTING?We frankly believe, that future of 3D Business will be brilliant. But this is just our belief, so better look at some data. First of all 3D printing is considererd one of the fastest growing manufacturing technology. During last 5 years value of 3D printing market was increasing every year in average nearly 25% yearly. According to many forecasts, 3D printing will develop even faster in the following years. In 2018, several well-known large brands have dropped products made partly using 3D printers. Best example were 3D printed parts for BMW wehicles, Adidad shoes made of 3D printed insole, or Gilette pilot razors with customizable 3D printed handles.
These are just some examples of 3D printing becoming increasingly popular and entering new realms of life and economy. But the increase in the popularity of 3D printing can also be seen in many other places.
One of the best indicators of how 3D printing is developing is how quickly and dynamically its value on the market increases. According to 3D Hubs 3D printing market is going to be worth about 25,0 billions USD in 2023. This means an incredibly intensive increase in the value of this market. As you can see on the chart above, Wohlers forecast was even more optimistic.
There are opinions that 3D printing will become 100% of the manufacturing market. However, this will not happen right away, if only because the market is saturated with traditional production methods such as subtractive manufacturing and 3D printers are not yet able to compete with all that methods (like forging).
Generally, all indicators and forecasts, as well as current trends, indicate that we should expect further intensive growth in 3D printing popularity.
This will directly result in a significant increase in public demand for 3D printing services and products.
#1
3D printing of prototypes and models
This is a niche where 3D printing and made by it 3D models are absolutely necessary. Industries like architecture or engineering as well as science often need to print models of buildings, devices or chemical compounds. 3D printing is also necessary for design analysis. Starting such a printing lab close to university can for sure very profitable, because students and technical universities provide constant demand for 3D models. So if you can start 3D printing near the technical university it will be nearly sure that your business will succeed and will develop quickly, because you will have many clients everyday.
It’s worth noticing that 65% of demand for 3D printing is currenctly coming from engineers workin in development of industrial, electrical or consumer goods (source).
#2
Industrial 3D printing
This one is the most risky and at the same time the most profitable 3D printing business idea.
You will need to spend at least $20,000 up to 100,000 to buy industrial 3D printing machine. But the possibilities of such printer are amazing and really powerful.
If there is demand for something made of plastic, which is unavailable in your market, and demand for that is huge – than industrial 3D printer is great idea. It can create furniture, car parts, bikes, parts of houses, ships, parts of planes and many more.
In order for this type of business to be effective and earn well, you must be able to acquire large companies and wealthy customers who will be willing to place large orders with you. Such a large investment can be risky, because you usually need some time to find customers and advertise your business.
#3
3D Printing point (printing on demand, with service and help)
Already there is a significant number of people who sometimes need to print something in 3D.
Because high quality 3D printers are too expensive, people often prefer to pay for service of 3D printing company to create something they need. This type of business will need:
- Good localization. 3D printing is definitely something that will work mostly in big cities especially in city centers
- Marketing and advertising your 3D services are highly recommanded, especially at the beginning. Let world hear about your business. There are already a few 3D printing businesses like that, but few people know about them.
- Customer-friendly service
- Accepting online orders for picking up later or for shipment will be an attractive advantage
#4
3D Scanning and 3D Printing
This niche of 3D business is an absolute diamond in the rough. It’s only a matter of time until a 3D scanning workshop works in every city center. People need replicas of many things that are necessary for us every day. Favorite toy of your child who broke down, bumper for a historic car, accessories for the garden, skateboard,
#5 Local 3D printing manufacture
One of the most profitable ideas for 3D printing business is producing things and selling them.
Things that can be produced with 3D printers are so much diversified and there are millions of them that you can create. Sky is the limit here, so incomes will depend on your creativity and quality of produced products.
Cases for smarfones, toys for kids, home accessories are just few examples of things you can produce with 3D printer. The most important factors that determine if your business will pay off is to listen to the needs of market. It is best to print things for which there is demand. A great idea to produce things from a 3D printer is to create popular and iconic items that were hard to get today. They can be, for example, 1: 1 replicas of motorcycles, shotguns, cannons, crowns. Good business can also be the production of realistic food replicas. They are needed in many restaurants, shops and bars, so that artificial food that looks realistic can be seen at exhibitions at the windows of shops.
#6
Creating and selling 3d printers made by you
The market of 3D printers is still young, but competition is already high.
Below in this article you can find links to tutorials teaching how to create your own 3D printer, which is pretty easy to do. Creating your own 3D printing product should be very profitable, but it needs time, and bigger investment (for things like marketing etc.).
#7
Creating prototypes of 3D printers
This one can be very lucrative, because big companies are eager to pay for prototypes of good quality 3D printers. However, it requires serious engineering skills and knowledge. If you have them and you have idea how to build innovative 3D printer, than it’s nearly sure that one big company will buy it from you.
#8
3D printed toys for children
It is easy to create anything wiht 3D printers including toys. You can create amazing-looking toys, some of them based on popular characters from books, movies or games. Niche of Toys-shops with 3D printed toys seems to be not yet even started. It would be amazing if kids can come to that shop, choose which one toy they want, and then have it manufactured at the same time in 3D printer.
Read also: 75 Unique Ideas for the Most Profitable Business in Texas
Let's talk about the beginning of earnings? Business model with 3D printer
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Good day to all.
Quite often I see questions about "starting a 3D printing business". Therefore, I would like to share my thoughts on this issue. The article will not have a ready-made business plan, but there will be ground for reflection on it (I hope). In order not to be unfounded, below are the Yandex search statistics. These statistics are only from Yandex, so you can safely multiply by 2.
Actually what I'm talking about. Many people buy 3D printers in the hope of additional income from the provision of 3D printing services. Often, thoughts like: "I'll post an ad on Avito and orders will go through people's heads." Many of these businessmen simply remain alone with the printer or sell it afterwards.
The competition in this area is already simply colossal and is only growing. Therefore, climbing into the service sector of this format without investing in advertising seems to me not the best idea. Moreover, almost two printer costs will have to be invested in advertising in this direction. Generally not an option. There is one way out for stuffing the client base - this is price dumping with its subsequent increase. But here, let everyone decide for himself whether he is ready, filling the base, at first to print "for 0" or even in the minus.
The second option is already less common, but still relevant in this matter. 3d modeling + 3d printing. This format of the service is in great demand and you can already earn at least on modeling, and at the same time spend only time. Everyone should determine the price of their time for themselves, since we are all different. But even here there is more than enough competition.
Well, now actually what I want to talk about.
At the time of purchase of the 3D printer, I already knew what I was going to do with it. For me, it was initially a tool to a greater extent, and not earnings. Noah understood that I could print, which would bring me some kind of income. Of course, I will not say what my projects are, but I want to share the logic of thought, or, if you like, the business model.
1st version
The beauty of a 3D printer is that there is no need to create a batch on it, to make molds or molds for casting parts. You can get by with a sample. And I think that a person who buys a 3D printer for business needs to know what he will do on it. At least roughly calculate the cost of production and the real demand for the product on the market. As an example, I can cite the sale of handles for a metal detector on Avito. I didn’t go deep into this issue, but I suspect that this thing is useful. In general, one of the options is to take as a basis a part that is in demand (perhaps some kind of automotive) on the market, learn how to print it at least well, and already post an ad on Avito or on specialized forums.
This behavior can kill two birds with one stone. There is no need for advertising, since this product is already needed by someone, and Avito itself will give your ad on the Internet, including if you format it correctly (I advise you to watch a video on this topic), and there will also be no need to fight with competition, since with the right choice of product it will either not be, or will be in a minimal amount. The same wordstat from Yandex can help you with the choice. And the number of such goods is limited only by your busyness.
2nd option.
Here you have to turn on your imagination. We must set ourselves the task of inventing a new product and promoting it. In this matter, one must understand that there is no competition at all, but there is also no advertising. Will have to look for it. Without investment, or almost without, it's real. I'll give you an example. Suppose you want to sell mini boxes with video game symbols, why not?
Let's say something like this.
This idea has not been brought to mind at all and most likely it will not come to life in my hands, so you can take this idea, bring it to mind, learn how to print, make a collapsible box (that's exactly what I wanted to do), and start promoting. As marketers say, "sow demand." As an option, send it as a gift to some streamer (s), having previously made a website with possible models. Making a website as a whole is not so long and difficult. You just have to really put in the time for it. And with due diligence, you will bring a completely new product to the market, and you will receive money for it.
Personally, my projects worked in both cases, and I don't take printing to order (although I was just asked to do it a couple of times), but I don't rely on the orders themselves and purposefully don't look for them.
In general, this is very crumpled, and I would like to describe more, but people do not like to read long articles here)
Thank you for your attention, I will not mind discussing the article in the comments)
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Author: Semyon Popadiuk
Author: Semyon Popadiuk
3D printer sales forecast up to 2020 | Profit Growth Forecast | Manufacturing and 3D printing | Changing budgets for additive technologies | Why manufacturers use 3D printing
Predicting the future of the 3D printing market is no easy task.
This relatively new technology puzzled many analysts: they could not imagine what practical problems new types of magic machines could solve in the future. When 3D printing was booming in the late 2000s and early 2010s, the phrase “3D printer for every home” seemed very tempting. However, it soon became clear that things were not so simple.
The 3D printing industry is growing rapidly. The next milestone - production
3D printing is not a technology that is meant for everyone and everyone. Working on a 3D printer, it is not enough just to press a button and get a finished product. Additive manufacturing includes 3D design, post-processing and a general understanding of how the equipment works - that's when the scheme will work in full force. The result was overly optimistic forecasts for the 3D printing market, which did not materialize.
Without exception, industry analysts are predicting skyrocketing 3D printer sales, profits and potential applications by 2020.
The increased use of 3D printing as an effective tool for manufacturing companies will play a huge role in this projected growth. This infographic shows the expected growth of the 3D printing industry in the coming years:
15 times more 3D printers expected to be sold by 2020
In its Global 3D Printer Forecast 2016 report, Gartner notes a rapid growth in 3D printer sales (108%) between 2015 and 2016 (219,168 printers sold in 2015, 455,772 in 2016). Analysts do not foresee a slowdown in sales growth in the foreseeable future. According to a Gartner report, over 6.7 million 3D printing devices will be sold in 2020. This is more than a 15-fold jump from the 2016 summary.
Projected 3D Printing Industry Profit by 2020 - $21 Billion
Gartner is not alone in its predictions for the 3D printing market. According to Wohlers, global profits in this area in 2016 amounted to $6 billion, in 2017 it will grow to $9 billion, in 2018 to $12 billion, in 2019 to $16 billion and will reach $21 billion.
in 2020.
71% of manufacturers use 3D printing today
We have seen how the 3D printing market is predicted to grow overall. Now consider what role manufacturers will play in this growth. A PWC survey of manufacturers found that 71% of those surveyed use 3D printing to some extent (compared to 66% last year). It also found that 20% of manufacturers are using 3D printers to produce finished parts, up from 10% the previous year.
50% of manufacturers plan to increase their 3D printing budget within the next year
As can be seen from the PWC study, many companies are actively implementing additive manufacturing. According to Fast Radius, manufacturers have not only mastered the technology, but have achieved positive results, and therefore plan to increase spending on 3D printing over the coming year. This applies to more than 50% of respondents, while 33% noted that they would increase the relevant budget items by more than 50% compared to the previous year.
