VoxelMatters calculated how many parts and final products were produced on 3D printers in 2023
The Atomic Layers: S3E23 (00079)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
VoxelMatters has published a new market report titled "Consumer Products AM" for 2023, in which it analyzed trends in the production of consumer products using 3D printing technologies.
According to the company, 3D printing in the consumer products sector is experiencing rapid growth – nearly 37 million consumer product parts were 3D printed last year, representing a +23% increase (+7 million parts) compared to 2022.
Analyzing data from over 1,500 companies involved in 3D printing and 300 end-users, VoxelMatters focused on eight key segments of the consumer products market: eyewear, footwear, sports equipment, consumer electronics, toys, fashion, design products (furniture and lighting), and jewelry. 3D printing technologies used in these industries involve both polymers and metals, which is reflected in the numbers.
In 2023, 16.8 million parts were produced using polymer materials, marking an +18.3% increase compared to 2022 (14.2 million parts). Although metal part production remains at a much lower level, it also saw growth – from 301,349 parts in 2022 to 364,577 in 2023 (+21%).
Polymer 3D printing is the dominant technology in consumer product part manufacturing. The most widespread method is P-PBF (SLS and MJF), which produced 11.1 million parts in 2023, reflecting a +14.8% growth compared to the previous year. Significant growth was also seen in Polymer Vat Photopolymerization (P-VPP), which increased by +25.8%, reaching 4.5 million printed parts. Other technologies, such as Polymer Material Extrusion (P-MEX) and Material Jetting (P-JET), also recorded substantial growth, increasing by +25.3% and +16.3%, respectively. In terms of metals, the most parts were produced using Metal Binder Jetting (M-JET).
For polymer technologies, powder materials were the most commonly used, leading to an increase in production from 9.9 million to 11.8 million parts (+19%). Parts produced with polymer filament grew by 20.2%, reaching 2.7 million units. However, the largest percentage growth was recorded for parts made from pastes – a remarkable +120.9%.
Read the full VoxelMatters report here.
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