Polymer AM market by industry 2021

Polymer Additive Manufacturing market by industry

Mass customization of individual products on the rise

Various industries have successfully adopted polymer Additive Manufacturing. Medical and dental have fully embraced the technology and exploit its potential in the mass customization of medical supplies.
The AMPOWER Report clusters industries into the categories of “Civil Aviation, Turbines, Helicopters”, “Defense, Space”, “Automotive, Motorsports, Trucks, Buses”, “Energy, Powerplants, Oil and Gas”, “Medical”, “Dental”, “Mechanical Engineering, Automation, Robotics”, “Tooling, Moulding”, “Naval, Rail”, “Consumer Goods” and “Others”. The following chapter will describe the metal Additive Manufacturing market from the perspective of these verticals.

Additive Manufacturing industries market

What you will find in this report section

Polymer system sales by industry 2020
Polymer system sales by industry 2020 and 2025
Sold polymer system by industry 2020
Installed polymer base by industry 2020 and 2025

Polymer system sales by industry 2020

Medical and dental responsible for almost one third of machine sales revenue in 2020

The global polymer Additive Manufacturing system sales volume is EUR 0.94 billion in 2020. The medical and dental industry cover the largest share with a combined share of 32 % of the system sales revenue. Especially the medical sector profited from the high demand of medical supplies due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, hence, explains the high share of medical industry in 2020. Dental industry continues its road to substitute the labor-intensive tasks with automated production. Additively produced dental aligners experience significant growth and adoption by players around the world.
On the other hand, automotive and aviation are greatly impacted by the pandemic. Investments were reportedly often postponed or canceled. Additive Manufacturing, however, has been a helping hand within these high-performance industries during COVID-19. Especially the short lead times and flexibility within their internal tooling production added significant value.
Several other industries are also using polymer Additive Manufacturing. Almost 9 % of which are accounted by the mechanical engineering, automation, and robotics. This industry especially uses AM because of its fast lead times and flexibility, for example to manufacture jigs and tools to support assembly. It enables the user to also produce prototypes and parts in small quantities. Therefore, almost every engineering bureau has reported to use polymer Additive Manufacturing with personal-sized printers. However, the use of the AM technologies on an industrial scale is not yet implemented in general.

Polymer system sales by industry 2020 and 2025

Medical will keep the lead in industrial polymer Additive Manufacturing

In 2020, the system sales revenue was led by the medical sector with almost EUR 200 million spend on polymer Additive Manufacturing machines. It is expected that the dominance of the medical industry will persist for the next 5 years. However, even in such uncertain times, the system suppliers predicted a higher growth for the automotive industry, which will close the gap to the medical industry.
In general, the suppliers expect certain industries to further integrate polymer Additive Manufacturing. Especially the industrial use of AM in production environment will grow according to the suppliers. Therefor they predict a high growth within the verticals mechanical engineering, automation, and robotics, tooling and consumer products.
The largest industry sector for polymer Additive Manufacturing system sales today is the medical industry with 21 % revenue share followed by automotive industry at 15 %. While these two industries will continue to lead the polymer AM industry in sales and revenue, the share of medical is predicted to decrease to 16 % and balance with automotive until 2025. The unique situation that led to an increase in sales in medical, is not predicted to continue.
It is expected that new applications will be realized with upcoming and high productivity Additive Manufacturing processes. Especially the game changer applications are often only published when already realized. AMPOWER believes, that several new applications will be published by users across all industries. In the long term, this will mature the market and cause further implementation of the technologies.

Sold polymer system by industry 2020

Medical installed more than 300 new machines

AMPOWER estimates that in 2020 a total of 22,562 industrial polymer systems were installed. Despite the severe effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industries of civil aviation and automotive, more than 5,857 systems were in these sectors.
The medical industry was a prime example for the advantages AM can bring. With the help of Additive Manufacturing, a lack medical supplies was overcome, as they were produced locally. Especially the production of face shields and nasal swabs led to an enormous attention by media and politics. It has created a movement of solidarity, in which lots of part manufacturing services used their production capacities for the common good and produced medical supplies. AMPOWER beliefs, that the pandemic has led to a substantial increase of polymer Additive Manufacturing within the medical industry.

Installed polymer base by industry 2020 and 2025

More than 50 % of all systems in aerospace, medical and energy sector

The installed base of industrial polymer AM sums up to 133,312 systems in 2020. Historically, certain verticals have been users since the beginnings. Especially due to high expectations and possible applications, automotive and aerospace industry invested early to reach 45,000 systems today.
A similar installed base is to be found in the combined medical and dental industry. Within these industries, the upcoming mass customization is a key driver for the further industrialization of Additive Manufacturing. The medical industry is also targeted by new system suppliers, which have developed new systems especially for the requirements of their needs. One example is KUMOVIS, a German system supplier of Material Extrusion systems, which developed a system with an integrated clean room to be used in clinical settings.
Within the next 5 years, the dental industry is projected to significantly increase its installed systems as the industrial production will further increase. It is estimated that the number of aligners will be close to 200 million in the next few years. Just this application will require about 2,500 to 5,000 additional machines. With this volume of parts printed, the dental industry is the first to establish mass customization of additive manufactured parts. The system suppliers predict the installed base to almost quintuple to 53,834 units in 2025.
The suppliers predict that another upcoming industry will be consumer goods. Additive Manufacturing is used by several international brands for consumer goods, like shoes, sport supplies and glasses. The toolless manufacturing process allows these industries to quickly change their product design and adapt the portfolio to the market demand. Within this industry the suppliers expect a high growth over the next 5 years and predict the market to more than quadruple.