SHORT
CUT
RISING UP THE SCALE
Why 3D printing is the future of mass production in China
Additive manufacturing (AM) – or
3D printing – has developed as a
radical alternative to traditional
manufacturing methods.
But despite being a popular method used
at the prototyping and testing stages
across many industries, AM is still rarely
used for large-scale production. The technology’s
maturity remains low in most of
the industries in China, and therefore it is
presently slower and more costly than traditional
mass production methods.
However, as the technology continues to
develop over the coming years, goetzpartners
anticipates these challenges to become
less impactful. AM in China will
shift from prototyping to small-volume
production, then to large-volume production
in the long-term. As the industry approaches
this turning point, it is crucial for
new market entrants to understand the
emerging areas for AM application, as well
as the ongoing educational challenges.
Innovated in China
goetzpartners estimates that China’s AM
market size will reach more than €4 billion
by 2025. In addition to an increase in the
technology’s popularity, the market development
is also being caused by support
from the Chinese government.
The Chinese government sees AM as a key
technology within the innovative manufacturing
sector – the growth of which is
the subject of the “Made in China 2025”
policy. It is estimated that 30 per cent of
the AM industry’s year-on-year growth in
China is supported by the government. 1
A diverse customer base
Aerospace and healthcare currently have
the greatest demand for AM methods
respectively in China, which is why maturity
of the technology is highest in these
sectors. And alongside those, electronics,
automotive and robotics are all significant
growth areas for AM.
KEY CRITERIA FOR AM APPLICATION
2
MATERIAL
Wide material choice
to support growing
list of applications
1
TECHNOLOGY
Technical merit that
can meet functional
parts’ R&D requirement
3
SERVICE
Responsive support,
training and regular
maintenance
The Chinese market
for 3D printing offers
dramatic sales potential
while being
highly competitive.
It is only with a clear,
localized AM strategy
that multinational
corporations can
succeed here.
In the automotive industry specifically, the
electric vehicle sector is currently showing
substantial interest in AM, as its pursuit
of lightweight materials is well suited
to the method’s capabilities. Therefore,
the technology could move to the core
of large-scale production methods in the
automotive industry by 2025. Volkswagen
has recently announced that it plans to
print select parts such as gear knobs and
it would mass produce structural parts
using AM within two to three years.
The leading options
As industry applications for AM will develop
to become more commonplace, it’s increasingly
clear that certain technologies within
AM – specifically, selective laser sintering
(SLS) and selective laser melting (SLM) –
have huge growth potential over alternative
methods. In China, SLS and SLM are showing
a 20 per cent year-over-year growth rate
on equipment. This trend can be attributed
to the methods having higher precision and
a wider choice of material options.
1) “AM Industry Development Action Plan”, The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People‘s Republic of China, 2017