This is how 3D printing has become the technology of the future

Production technology in transition

March 04, 2022

Written by Stephen Ash

An international research collaboration has examined what role additive manufacturing currently plays – and what it still needs to make a breakthrough.

Anyone who believes in the promises of the leading manufacturers of 3D printers and materials can assume that the past hour has already broken classic production techniques – the possibilities for innovative multi-layer construction of components are virtually endless.

However, a different picture emerges if we look at it objectively: modern technology is still used mainly for the production of individual special components, prototypes and small series. There is still a long way to go until it is used in a wider field. Why is it like this? And what can be done about it? Researchers from the three Fraunhofer Institutes IPT, IAPT and IGCV investigated this with colleagues from ETH Zurich on behalf of the World Economic Forum. They documented the results in a white paper.