Metal Additive Manufacturing

The State of the Industry

Metal additive manufacturing holds tremendous promise in how it will enable the production of components that were previously cost prohibitive or could not be produced with conventional manufacturing processes. As a result, industry and academia are making a concerted effort to further the development of metal additive processes. An increasing number of finished machines from OEM manufacturers are being purchased each year in order for end-users to become familiar with the technology and find valuable uses for it. While many OEMs are making their own powder-bed manufacturing machines, most of the designs follow very similar prescriptions and result in similar products. There are minor design changes here and there, but little in terms of drastic differences that would help an OEM really differentiate their product from the pack.