Additive Manufacturing (AM) Research, previously SmarTech Analysis, has posted their inaugural intelligence report about the defense 3D printing market titled, “Additive Manufacturing for Military and Defense.” Notably, the report forecasts that the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will directly expend $300 million on AM in 2023, escalating to $1.8 billion by 2032.
Tali Rosman, a known personality in the AM industry who initiated XEROX’s ElemX 3D printing division (recently bought by ADDiTEC), was the primary author of the report, with Matt Kremenetsky, 3DPrint.com’s Macro Analyst and an analyst for AM Research, as the co-author.
During her tenure at ElemX, Rosman orchestrated the transaction that lead to the setting up of the premier metal 3D printer able to print parts on an active US Navy vessel. This landmark, achieved in the summer of 2022, both encapsulates years of DoD AM exertions that culminated in this event, and anticipates many significant DoD AM advances that have taken place afterwards.
At the outset of our project, Tali and I agreed that a unique, complex area like the AM sector necessitates a unique kind of analysis for a successful report. The final report turned out to be more successful than we initially anticipated.
The Defense sector is perhaps the most atypical AM market one could aim to understand. Reliable quantitative data is scarce, unlike in other domains of the 3D printing sector. Governments, some of the most idiosyncratic customers there are, combined with the necessity of classified information, pose a significantly challenging path towards certainty unlike any other market analysis.
Therefore, Rosman and I prioritized qualitative analysis, complementing it with comprehensive quantitative analysis by AMR Executive Vice President of Research Scott Dunham and Rosman’s thorough examination of the DoD budget. Noteworthy is the inclusion of previously unpublished expert testimonies from Matthew Sermon, Executive Director of Program Executive Office (PEO), Strategic Submarines for the US Navy, and Steven Camilleri, chief technology officer (CTO) of SPEE3D. The latter is one of the major success stories of AM vendors becoming a part of the US defense industrial base.
Image courtesy of AM Research
The primary aspect that sets apart this report is its concentrated emphasis on the Department of Defense (DoD) and its growing involvement in the fortification of the US defense industrial base (DIB). Particularly in reference to defense, it’s important to acknowledge that not all national markets are identical. Defense-focused AM businesses that fail to specifically target the US market are potentially overlooking major scaling opportunities not only within the defense sector but arguably across all AM sectors.
Within this fast-paced market, strategic planning is pivotal. Should you lack a defense strategy already, then you are significantly delayed. “Additive Manufacturing for Military and Defense” could potentially equip companies trailing behind with an unmatchable leg-up or assist defense-oriented enterprises in retaining and extension of their market footholds.
“Why did the 3D printer go to therapy? Because it had too many layers of unresolved issues!”
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