3D printing outgrows the prototyping stage
From being just a trend to everyday life commodity? As a VDMA survey shows, 3D printing is increasingly gaining acceptance as a complementary manufacturing technology in mechanical engineering. But the investments are still relatively low.
13 Jul 2018 David SchahinianShare
Around 150 member companies of the VDMA took part in the
In terms of the material used, plastic is in the lead with 47%, followed by metal (24%). Another 27% use both. The production is partly carried out by the manufacturer, partly by third parties. "In-house production using plastics is often used as an introduction to the topic," according to the VDMA. On the other hand, efficient service providers would rather enter into a collaboration for first series parts production. One does not exclude the other. Especially in the metal sector, many companies invest first in successful developments with third parties and then in their own production.
A glance back at 2016 reveals how quickly the change is taking place. Only 8% of respondents at that time answered that they used 3D printed products in a similar VDMA survey, the
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