Post-Processing for Additive Manufacturing: Market Analysis and Forecast

Post-Processing for Additive Manufacturing: Market Analysis and Forecast

This report provides the reader with a detailed understanding of the changing market dynamics that are causing additional emphasis of these operational steps, a review of the top suppliers of post-processing equipment and services, and a series of market forecasts examining year over year trends and industry breakdowns. The report is authored by Mike Vasquez, PhD, founder of noted industry consultancy 3Degrees.

The report also details the roles and requirements for 3D printing post-processing, a critical yet often overlooked part of the overall additive manufacturing workflow. The term encompasses a broad set of operations after any part comes out of the printer. This can include cleaning, coloring, surface finishing, curing, heat treating, and other manufacturing operations.

As materials and printing technologies have improved, new applications are within reach of the current cost and technical capabilities of additive manufacturing. One element that has helped to move this process along is the maturation of post-processing technologies for a variety of Additive Manufacturing printing modalities. For now, AM represents a small portion of the overall end-product manufacturing market, but that portion is growing.

In nearly all 3D-printing operations some amount of post processing is required to remove supports, excess powder, or basic curing. However, the industry has seen the evolution of printing-specific operations that target known shortcomings of AM parts, like surface roughness or material performance.

This report surveys the major companies providing services and products to directly target the post-processing operations involved in additive manufacturing, including but not limited to: AM-FLOW, AMT, DyeMansion, PostProcess, Solukon, Bel Air Finishing, Gasbarre, Hiperbaric, and MicroTek Finishing.