At this 12 months’s 3D Print Lyon, I participated in a panel dialogue on consolidation, maturing buyer demand, and materials innovation. Becoming a member of me on the worldwide developments panel had been Cecile Laverriere, EOS Purposes Engineer, Terry Wohlers, Distinguished Fellow of Superior Manufacturing at ASTM, and Tuan Tranpham, President of AMER & APAC at Anisoprint.
For extra in-depth dialogue of present AM points, be part of Additive Manufacturing Benefit on July tenth, the place AM leaders from Aerospace, Area and Defence will meet.
Consolidation within the 3D printing trade, behind the headlines
The grounded dialog signaled an trade in transition. Whereas the query of whether or not the 3D printing trade is consolidating stays open, panelists largely agreed that the present shake-out part could show useful, eliminating weak propositions and strengthening viable ones.
Terry Wohlers contextualised the pattern, “Consolidation is inevitable. Some firms will go away naturally. Some have nice expertise and mental property. And a few are merging simply to remain alive.”
Current high-profile acquisitions by Nano Dimension reignited conversations that date again to the formative mergers of 3D Programs and ZCorp, and of Objet and Stratasys greater than a decade in the past. However regardless of headlines, the general degree of consolidation stays low in relative phrases. Referencing earlier work utilizing the consolidation curve mannequin, I famous that, “In case you run the numbers for FY 2023, the mixed revenues of Nano Dimension, Desktop Metallic, and Markforged complete $340 million: simply 2.3% of a $15 billion market. That means we’re nonetheless within the early phases of consolidation.”
This interpretation was supported by a parallel indicator: exhibitor development at Formnext, the trade’s largest occasion. Whereas development has slowed, it continues, underscoring the continued proliferation of gamers relatively than contraction.
Past the provider aspect, Tuan Tranpham famous that consolidation now cuts throughout the ecosystem, not simply amongst OEMs, but in addition in service bureaus, prospects, and R&D efforts. “What we noticed 5 years in the past was a honeymoon part,” he stated. “Now we’re seeing a wholesome cleanup. Corporations that raised funds with out fixing actual issues are being filtered out.”
Tranpham was clear about what the sector wants to attain legitimacy, “Goldman Sachs stated to be an actual trade, it’s good to be at $100 billion. We gained’t get there on prototyping alone. We have to converse the language of manufacturing.”
Cecile Laverriere bolstered this level with on-the-ground observations. “I’m pleased that prospects are not saying ‘I need AM as a result of it’s cool,’ however ‘I need AM as a result of it’s environment friendly’. Some elements in house, for instance, merely can’t be manufactured another approach anymore.”
EOS’s transition from ‘design for printing’ to production-validated workflows can also be seen in its coaching initiatives, which now prolong from design and simulation by way of to help optimization and post-processing. Laverriere famous the influence of this shift, “It’s an enormous step. We can’t return.”
Traits in rising 3D printing applied sciences
Because the dialogue shifted towards rising applied sciences, supplies took centre stage. I highlighted magnesium as one underappreciated alternative, “It’s light-weight, biocompatible, and related for each defence autos and healthcare, but we don’t see it extensively deployed at scale.”
Ceramic AM additionally attracted consideration, significantly for zirconia-based elements with excessive decision and production-grade traits. On the metals aspect, copper alloys like NASA-developed GRCop-42 proceed to achieve floor in high-thermal-demand purposes equivalent to rocket motor chambers.
Nevertheless, maybe probably the most vital long-term pattern would be the acceleration of supplies improvement by way of AI. “NASA used to take years to refine parameters for a brand new alloy. With computational alloy design and in-situ information evaluation, they’ll now do it a lot sooner,” I noticed.
Among the many technical standouts was EOS’s beam shaping innovation. As defined by Laverriere, beam shaping allows a single laser to function throughout a number of spot sizes, tailoring power density to utility zones in an element. “The bigger spots feed the amount to cut back the price per half, whereas smaller spots are retained for high-quality options and higher floor roughness,” she stated. The result’s diminished construct instances and expanded viability for cost-sensitive industries equivalent to automotive. EOS studies manufacturing instances reduce by half or extra in some circumstances.
However much more transformative could possibly be design automation powered by AI. “Proper now, the machine can do greater than what we now have in our mind,” Laverriere noticed. “We’re restricted by typical design instruments. AI is a brand new technique to simulate and calculate.” She argued that AI-enhanced design, significantly together with generative geometry and real-time simulation, will quickly surpass the siloed parametric approaches in widespread use immediately.
The Development of China’s 3D Printing Market
I requested the panel, “Is the centre of innovation shifting from Germany to China?” Wohlers responded, “They’ve discovered rather a lot from the West (Germany, France, Italy, the UK, the US) and began not from scratch however from the next basis. In some methods, they’ve now gone forward.”
That switch, lengthy underway by way of the sort of outsourced manufacturing greatest exemplified by Apple, is now shifting upstream, difficult European incumbents not simply on quantity but in addition on system complexity. Tranpham drew consideration to the speedy development in high-laser-count programs rising from Asia. Traditionally, the US and Europe have dominated AM revenues, usually break up roughly 45/40. However the speedy scale-up in China, and broader Asia, is shifting this stability. Laverriere famous the inflow of Asian rivals providing machines with extra lasers and bigger construct volumes. “The extra lasers you might have, the extra upkeep and the extra subtle the coordination. At EOS, we’ve gone a special route, fewer lasers, however every extra productive.”
I noticed that this shift in stability ties intently to broader macro developments. “There’s been a pivot in capital from ESG to protection in North America,” I stated. “Provide chain sovereignty is not theoretical.” Drawing parallels with the ongoing debate round digital sovereignty, I famous, “That very same logic is being utilized to AM infrastructure.” On this local weather, beleaguered European desktop 3D printer producers equivalent to BCN3D face sturdy competitors from China’s low-cost suppliers. Some are responding by pivoting to protection. “By 2026, 30% of UltiMaker’s income will come from protection,” I reported, citing a current interview with Andy Middleton.
Wohlers equipped detailed information from a first-hand account, “A pal from Taiwan who’s labored in AM for over 30 years, now travels to China quarterly. He was staggered by what he noticed.” Wohlers proceeded to catalogue China’s AM ecosystem: firms like Vivid Laser Applied sciences (BLT), Farsoon, HBD, Z-Speedy, EPlus3D, TPM3D, and UnionTech are producing elements at volumes unseen within the West, “tens of millions and tens of tens of millions,” based on Wohlers. Manufacturing with 3D printing consists of parts for cell telephones, watches, plus manufacturing molds and inserts for footwear and tires.
The size is tough to overstate, with many service suppliers and contract producers. Based on Wohlers, BLT reportedly has over 400 large-scale steel powder fusion programs in operation and 400 CNC machines for post-processing, with plans to surpass 1,000 steel AM programs by the tip of the 12 months. WeNext has “600 plus” massive 3D printers. Wohlers cited over 1,000 high-capacity print farms now working throughout China.
“We’ve been dreaming within the West of production-scale AM for many years,” Wohlers stated. “Nevertheless it’s China that’s doing it: in aerospace, automotive, shopper items, dental, and even cellphones.”
The implication is obvious: the narrative of Western AM management requires a reassessment. As manufacturing shifts and innovation hubs multiply, the trail to industrial-scale additive manufacturing will more and more run by way of Asia. Whether or not this shift turns into a dependency or a immediate for home acceleration stays unresolved.
Provide Chains and Industrial Reshoring
The dialog turned towards commerce coverage and the reconfiguration of provide chains. “Proper now (early-June 2025), there’s a 90-day window earlier than new tariffs come into drive. Politics is now a variable in procurement.”
Wohlers was blunt in regards to the sensible challenges. “Reshoring is one thing I absolutely help, but it surely’s extraordinarily tough. Formlabs, a US firm, manufactures its machines in China. The associated fee construction simply isn’t comparable.”
Whereas nationwide safety issues have pushed reshoring makes an attempt in delicate areas equivalent to protection, aerospace, and semiconductors, the broader shopper market stays globally entangled. Michael Porter’s Aggressive Benefit of Nations emphasised long-term systemic situations, equivalent to home rivalry, specialised expertise, and complicated demand, as the muse of business success. At present’s re-shoring insurance policies mirror a extra interventionist shift.
“We’d see labor prices rising in China and a few manufacturing shifting to Vietnam or India. However the concept we will rewind many years of world integration is naive,” I stated. “The genie’s out.” For comparability, the “as soon as in a technology funding” U.S. CHIPS and Science Act 2022 allotted $52 billion, unfold over 5 years, to safe home semiconductor manufacturing, based on journalist Patrick McGee, “Apple’s investments in China reached $55 billion per 12 months by 2015.”
AI, Requirements, and Strategic Divergence: AM Confronts the Subsequent Decade
Additive manufacturing’s subsequent part can be formed by the convergence of software program intelligence, certification frameworks, and geopolitical divergence. Wanting ahead, the panel turned speculative. Within the subsequent 5 to 10 years, I argued that requirements can be central. “Additive is wealthy in information, however the qualification burden is duplicated by each firm. I’d prefer to see that damaged down, shared databases, interoperable frameworks, extra open materials qualification.” I cited the ASTM Additive Manufacturing Certification Program, launched in the course of the occasion, as a promising shift. Wohlers expanded, “To go mainstream, we want course of belief. Certifications like this can make that potential.”
Questions from the viewers turned the dialogue to transatlantic divergence. Why, requested one European machine builder, was the US rising whereas Europe stagnated?
Wohlers recognized regulatory and entrepreneurial variations. “Within the US, it takes $50 and 20 minutes to start out an LLC. In Germany, that used to take months. The tradition helps failure. We reward attempting.” I added a single phrase: “Advertising and marketing. People know find out how to inform their story. That drives adoption.”
Laverriere, who works throughout Europe and the US, provided an operational view: “European prospects ask what’s potential. They go away, take a look at, and assume. People say, ‘Right here’s what I want. Ship it in six months.’ They combine and optimize sooner.”
As additive manufacturing matures, its future will rely each on {hardware} specs and on systemic alignment: requirements, software program, and industrial philosophy. The following breakthroughs could not come from lasers or construct speeds, however from constructing the widespread language that lets a distributed trade converse, and construct, with confidence. The winners can be those that can translate machine capability into certified, safe, and scalable industrial programs.
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Featured picture from 3D Print Lyon 2025. Picture by Nicolas Rodet.
