This annual publication is a comprehensive study of additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing-terms that are used interchangeably throughout this report. For 26 years, this report has provided a thorough review and analysis of the global AM industry. Wohlers Report 2021 was written for any organization seeking clear insight into the AM market. Groups that purchase this report annually include manufacturing companies of all sizes, service providers, startup companies, researchers, educators, analysts, investors, government agencies, and developers of industry standards and regulations.
An important part of this report is its comprehensive coverage of the AM industry's growth. It includes revenues and machine unit sales, complete with tables and charts that illustrate relevant trends, history, and industrial segments. The foundation of this reporting is more than 26 years of data and information from the producers of AM systems, software, and materials, as well as service providers, and customers. This has been collected through surveys, interviews, and other means.
The report serves as a “barometer” of the industry's health and future. No other published analysis of the AM industry includes 26 years of hard data as its basis for computing growth, analyzing trends, and forecasting the future. Wohlers Report 2021 includes the history of AM and industries adopting and driving the technology. The report details available industrial AM systems, along with important developments.
Current technologies for manufacturing end-use parts are discussed in detail. The report includes new and expanded sections on part inspection, the hidden costs of metal AM, and AM-related software. All are important when applying AM for series production. The patent landscape and other legal issues in the industry are also explained.
The report provides updates on recent technical developments and impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic. It reports on the growth of computer-aided design (CAD), advances in AM materials, and 3D scanning applications and technologies. Wohlers Report 2021 documents government-sponsored research and development, collaborations, consortiums, and the activities of 150 academic and research institutes around the world.
The report concludes with a discussion of the many emerging applications and trends in AM's developing ecosystem. It provides insights into the future - what is driving the industry today and what to expect in the years ahead - to assist in strategic planning and investing. Among the emerging applications are 3D-printed food, medication, and electronics.
The 2021 edition features expanded discussion on investments and startups in the AM industry and forecasts future opportunities and growth. To supplement the review and analysis, the report includes 54 charts and graphs, 104 tables, and 397 photographs and illustrations.

Acknowledgments 10

About the Principal Authors 12

Associate Authors 14

PART 1: INTRODUCTION 15

Focus of this report 15

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic 16

      Broad response from AM industry 17

      Winners and losers 17

      Near-term future 18

Introduction to AM and 3D printing 18

Myths and misconceptions 20

      AM will replace conventional manufacturing 20

      Complexity is free 20

      AM is a "push button" process 21

      Most AM systems are similar 22

      Few materials are available for AM 22

      Metal AM produces parts inexpensively 22

      AM parts are inferior to conventional parts 23

      Every home will have a 3D printer 23

History of additive manufacturing 24

      1960s to the modern era 24

      March 2020 to March 2021 24

Applications 28

      Survey approach and respondents 28

      Putting AM to work 29

Industries 35

      Automotive 35

      Consumer products 38

      Aerospace 39

      Medical 42

      Dentistry 46

      Academic institutions 50

      Power and energy 51

      Government and military 53

      Architecture and construction 55

      Additional industries 59

PART 2: MATERIALS AND PROCESSES 60

Processes 60

      Material extrusion 61

      Vat photopolymerization 62

      Powder bed fusion 65

      Material jetting 68

      Binder jetting 69

      Directed energy deposition 71

      Sheet lamination 74

Materials 75

      Polymers 75

      Graphene and other nanomaterials 79

      New polymer products 80

      Polymer pricing 82

      Metals 83

      New powders for metal AM 85

      Producing powders for metal AM 87

      Water-atomized metal powders 89

      Metal powder pricing 90

      Composites and hybrid materials 91

      Materials for metal-casting processes 93

      Ceramics and other materials 94

Third-party material producers 95

      Open vs.closed material business models 95

      Third-party producers 96

      Process/material matrix 98

Materials database 99

      Materials by process 99

      Material producers and products 100

      Material properties 102

PART 3: INDUSTRY GROWTH 104

Revenue from AM worldwide 104

      Products and services 105

      Growth percentages 106

System manufacturers 107

      Unit sales 108

      Unit sales growth percentages 108

      Market shares 109

      Systems sold by region 110

      Average selling price 111

      Metal AM systems 111

      Polymer AM systems 112

      Unit sales by manufacturer and year 112

Desktop 3D printers 118

      Sales growth 118

      Under $500 3D printers 119

AM material sales 119

      Photopolymers 120

      Polymer powders 121

      Filaments 122

      Metals 122

Service providers 123

      Primary service market 123

      Service provider survey 124

      Contributing service providers 124

      Survey results 126

      Pre- and post-processing 127

      Most profitable AM processes 127

      Most profitable materials 129

      Revenue growth 130

      Online marketplaces 130

      Supplier competition 131

      Comments from service providers 131

Investment in publicly traded companies 136

      Revenues and earnings 140

      On the horizon 142

Corporate investments 143

CAD Solid Modeling 144

PART 4: FINAL PART PRODUCTION 147

Benefits of AM for production 148

      Reduction of tooling 149

      Reduced lead time and on-demand manufacturing 149

      Reduced inventory and part consolidation 151

      Sustainability and waste reduction 152

      Custom product manufacturing 153

      Generative design and biomimicry 154

      Optimized structures 155

      Concept modeling to production 156

Design for additive manufacturing 157

      Consolidating parts 159

      Support material and post-process optimization 161

      Lightweighting and topology optimization 163

      Complex lattice structures 165

      Improved fluid flow, conformal cooling, and efficiency 166

      Economic benefits of DfAM 168

      Calculating part cost and factors impacting it 169

Software for AM 173

      3D scan-processing 174

      Design and optimization 176

      Repair 177

      Simulation 1

      Slicing and print preparation 178

      Print management 179

      Manufacturing execution systems 179

      Security 180

Process monitoring of metal powder bed fusion 180

      Aconity3D 183

      Addiguru 184

      AddUp 184

      EOS 184

      GE Additive 184

      Layer Metrics 185

      Open Additive 185

      Renishaw 186

      Sigma Labs 186

      SLM Solutions 186

      Velo3D 187

      Outlook 187

Post-processing 187

      Post-processing polymer parts 188

      Surface treatment of polymer parts 191

      Post-processing metal parts 194

      Thermal processing of metal parts 196

      Metal support material removal 197

      Metal surface treatment 199

      Post-process automation 202

      AM part inspection 203

Costs and challenges 205

      Operating costs 205

      Cost justification 206

      Machine throughput 206

      Metal part production cost considerations 207

      Qualification and quality 210

      Educating designers 210

PART 5: GLOBAL REPORTS 212

Installations by country 212

Africa 213

      South Africa 214

Asia/Pacific 216

      China 217

      India 218

      Japan 219

      Korea 220

      Singapore 221

      Taiwan 222

Australasia 223

      Australia 223

      New Zealand 224

Europe 225

      Austria 225

      Belgium 226

      Denmark 226

      Finland 227

      France 228

      Germany 230

      Hungary 231

      Italy 232

      Netherlands 233

      Norway 234

      Poland 235

      Portugal 236

      Romania 236

      Russia 237

      Slovenia 238

      Spain 239

      Sweden 240

      Switzerland 241

      Turkey 241

      United Kingdom 242

Middle East 242

      Iran 243

      Israel 244

Other regions 244

      Brazil 244

      Canada 245

      United States 246

PART 6: RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 248

Trends 248

Patents 248

      Patent litigation 251

Consortia and collaborations 251

      America Makes 252

      Fraunhofer AM alliance 252

      Women in 3D Printing 253

      Partnerships 254

AM Standards 255

      ASTM Committee F42 256

      ISO/TC 261 257

AM Activities at NASA 259

AM in the U.S. Department of Defense 260

U.S. Government-Sponsored R&D 261

      National Science Foundation 261

      DOD, DOE, and DOC 263

      National Institutes of Health 264

U.S. National Laboratories 264

      Oak Ridge National Laboratory 264

      Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 265

      Sandia National Laboratories 266

Government-sponsored R&D in Europe 267

Academic activities and capabilities 270

      Research innovations 270

      The Americas 271

      Asia/Pacific 276

      Europe, Middle East, and Africa 278

      Research institutes with AM capabilities 283

      Research trends 286

PART 7: THE FUTURE OF ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING 287

COVID-19 Shapes AM'S Future 287

Technical directions and trends 288

      Feedstock development 288

      Automotive and aerospace adoption 290

      Spare parts 292

      Marine activity 293

      Environmental impact 294

Applications of the future 295

      3D-printed electronics 295

      3D-printed medicine 296

      3D-printed food 297

Landscape of AM startups 298

Startups and early-stage investments 300

      Public offerings and acquisitions 303

New AM companies 305

Market forecast and opportunity 307

Summary 308

PART 8: SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS 310

Asia/Pacific 310

      Aspect 311

      Bright Laser Technologies 311

      Eplus 3D 312

      Farsoon 313

      Mimaki 314

      UnionTech 314

      XYZprinting 315

      ZRapid 316

Germany 317

      Arburg 317

      BigRep 318

      DMG Mori 318

      Envisiontec 319

      EOS 321

      SLM Solutions 322

      Trumpf 323

      Voxeljet 324

Other companies in Europe and the Middle East 325

      Additive Industries 325

      AddUp 325

      Admatec 326

      BeAM 327

      Digital Metal 327

      DWS 328

      Lithoz 329

      Prodways 329

      Renishaw 330

      Sinterit 331

      Sisma 332

      Stratasys 332

      XJet 334

U.S. 334

      3D Systems 334

      Carbon 336

      Cincinnati 337

      Coherent 337

      Desktop Metal 338

      ExOne 339

      Formlabs 339

      GE Additive 340

      HP 341

      Markforged 342

      Optomec 342

Manufacturer, process, and material matrix 344

Additional system manufacturers 345

Appendices 350

Appendix A: Glossary of terms 350

Appendix B: 1988-2006 unit sales 359

Appendix C: Metal AM comparison matrix 362

Appendix D: 3D scanning systems 374

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