Sculpteo
Sculpteo state of 3D printing 2017
Survey demographics, Sculpteo State of 3D Printing 2017.
Sculpteo, the French online 3D printing service provider, has released its third annual report evaluating the state of 3D printing.
In the report, which is divided into five chapters across 30 pages, Sculpteo assesses the trends of the adoption of 3D printing, how expertise is the key to innovation, and the market growth.
Sculpteo gathered its information from over 900 respondents, the majority of which were not Sculpteo clients, but professionals who have sought to integrate 3D printing into their workflow to variable degrees. The company says the principal aim of the report is to give personnel involved in the industry the information to better understand the market.
Three key takeaways are outlined in the introduction of Sculpteo’s report. First, 47% of total respondents saw a greater return on their investment than last year – for ‘power users’ this total rises to 57% - Power users are those considered to have a greater understanding of the technology. Secondly, expenses in 3D printing are expected to rise by 55% this year. And thirdly, respondents generally believed the declining cost of 3D technology will contribute to its continued use and growth.
Deeper into the report, the importance of expertise is addressed, and to an extent, stressed. Of the 900+ who responded to the survey, 86% have been using 3D printing for five years or less. On this point, respondents also suggest it takes a minimum of five years experience with 3D printing technologies for it even be possible to be considered an ‘expert’.
“3D printing is getting more professional, needs specific departments, and specific experts: designers, who can consider the specific 3D printing constraints, engineers who study 3D printing materials and how the printing process impacts an object’s properties, operators who understand how to operate each 3D printer,” reads the report. “As a result expertise should strongly grow in the next few years.”
Sculpteo
Sculpteo state of 3D printing
Expertise is key
Around 77% of power users have been using 3D printing for five years or less, but are 20% more likely to work in companies where 3D printing is much separated from the rest of their activities. The report also finds that 92% of power users have someone inside the company they work who designs 3D models, suggesting 3D printing is settling into companies’ processes, and specific departments for 3D printing are becoming more and more common. Further to this, 97% of candidates being sought by respondents will be deployed in technical departments of the company, again indicating a desire for enhanced professionalism.
“Expertise clearly appears to be the key factor that helps you improve performance when it comes to additive manufacturing,” the report continues. “We advise you to work with people with experience in the subject, it will help you gain in efficiency and significantly increase your performance.”
Other highlights of the report include 90% of respondents from Europe and North America believing the adoption of 3D printing offers their company a competitive advantage. The report finds that 28% of respondents use 3D printing to accelerate product development, 16% use the technology to offer customised products, and 13% to increase production flexibility. The leading use of 3D printing, however, is prototyping (34%), while harnessing the technology for proof of concept is an application used by 23% of respondents.
Respondents said they were still more likely to use a 3D printing service than buy a machine themselves, while plastic is still the most used material (88% total users, 91% power users) and Fused Deposition Modelling (85% total users, 57% power users) remains the most used 3D printing technology.
