3D printing technology gained acceptance and traction in 2020.

These accomplishments will drive new applications and investments in 2021. New capacity will be added with advances of larger printers that perform at faster speeds. Costs per piece will decline and new product opportunities will be introduced for larger parts. The application of 3D printing will be positively impacted with the introduction of new materials into the process while new secondary processing applications will further increase opportunities.

These product advancements will provide opportunities to use 3D printing in new and different ways. For example, global development of electric vehicle automotive production will provide new requirements. Designs of electric cars require fewer parts than traditional gasoline powered designs and this will drive new opportunities in prototyping and early production parts. New design demands will require existing assemblies combined into one modular part design. These factors are in the 3D printing sweet spot of capabilities.

3D printing advancements will have a larger impact on production tooling design and investment in 2021.

Expansion of capabilities, materials, cycle time reduction, and size of printers will enable manufacturers to use 3D printed parts for early production (past prototype) and end of life applications. The use of 3D printed parts for early production will enable the delay of production tooling builds. In other words, 3D printed parts can be used for early production when many design changes are made. Whenever you delay the production tooling you can reduce risk and need for expensive post design tooling changes. It’s the same with end of life tooling; replacement decisions can also be reduced or eliminated with the introduction of 3D printing capabilities.

The impact of 3D printing on the supply chain will grow in 2021.

Current return on investment (ROI) calculations for 3D printing investments have focused on basic part dimensions, material types, time, volume, and tooling cost assumptions. But now, the rising costs of the supply chain will drive new factors in these calculations. Manufacturers and suppliers now have to consider back end distribution costs, including warehousing and shipping rates will continue to increase in 2021, as David Ross, transportation analyst at Stifel Investment Banking said in Logistics Management magazine. Increases for ocean, trucking, rail, and air rates are anticipated for 2021. New ROI inputs of warehouse space, transportation and inventory carrying costs will be added to provide a complete benefit and cost analysis. This is a positive development for the adoption of 3D printing because companies will start to consider fill rate and lost sales impacts on sales pipelines that could be improved with the addition of a 3D printing investment.

Growth of outsourced regional 3D printing capacity will continue to accelerate in 2021.

These facilities will look like existing third party logistic centers that receive, store, and ship inventory, but the difference is that they will work primarily with digital part inventories while physical inventories will be reduced. Physical inventory will be used to support only same day orders and spikes in demand. These third-party 3D printers (3P3DPs) will use growing demand to support the overhead investment needed to be profitable while also providing the infrastructure to support specialized resources needed to advance 3D printing capabilities.

Many third party manufacturing operations are currently supported with existing manufacturing personnel asked to run a 3D printer. There’s often no justification to support an engineer only focused on 3D printing. Yet as these regionalized providers grow, their larger scale will support specialized full time resources for 3D printing at scale. Specific 3D printing knowledge and experience in design, materials, operations, environment, health and safety, process improvement, and procurement will be in high demand.

3P3DPs will cluster around certain geographies to support specific industries.

University teaching hospitals will see 3D technology accelerate with continued development of printing high value replacement parts, such as hip joints, knee components, and bone grafts. 3D printing will enhance the function of these parts with patient customization and the reduction of inventory carrying costs.

New 3D manufacturing capacity will center around the growth of consumer space travel, aerospace, and military demand. Look for these locations to cluster around Huntsville, Ala., and Florida. New regulatory pressure in the oil and gas industry will drive cost cutting efforts and productivity improvements resulting in new 3D printing needed to support these industries in Texas, Louisiana, and the Dakotas. Electric vehicle design centers will continue to drive 3D printing capacity growth in Detroit, California, and Nevada. 3D printing will also follow new electric assembly facilities similar to the impact automotive transplant assembly plants have on closely located supplier facilities.

A strong shift to internal sourcing of 3D printing will be in the foreseeable future since 3D printing is rarely the primary equipment a company will use to produce a product.

3D printing will continue to enable the disruptors.

Business models similar to the Smile Direct company have been developed through extreme customer customization. Smile Direct has disrupted the orthodontic industry with a powerful sales pipeline supported by the largest 3D printing facility in the US. This business model needs refinement as Smile Direct is still operating at a loss, but look for new 3D applications to emerge in retail services that use heavy customer customization, such as eyeglasses (Warby Parker), footwear (Adidas, Nike) and wearables (Apple, Google) in 2021.

The world changed to depend on 3D printing in 2020 with lifesaving results. The industry continued to move forward based on this awareness and increasing applications. We new see new capabilities, faster speeds, and new materials are helping drive growth. The supply chain will feel this impact with new approaches to digitalize inventory, move inventory closer to the customer, reduce transportation costs, and customize products. It’s your time to change your supply chain with 3D printing.