More Manufacturers Adopt 3D Printing Technology

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is tracking more projects that include 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, equipment. Manufacturers use the technology to make items such as aircraft parts and medical equipment.

According to information technology research and advisory company Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) (Stamford, Connecticut), the beginnings of the 3D "revolution" show up in a 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) (London, England) survey of more than 100 manufacturing companies. At the time of the survey, 11% had already switched to volume production of 3D-printed parts or products. According to Gartner analysts, a technology is "mainstream" when it reaches an adoption level of 20%. Gartner expects worldwide shipments of 3D printers to reach 496,475 units in 2016, up 103% from the predicted 244,533 units in 2015, Shipments of 3D printers are forecast to more than double every year between 2016 and 2019, by which time worldwide shipments are expected to reach more than 5.6 million.

As part of a $32 million renovation project, EDAC Composites Limited Liability Company (Erlanger, Kentucky) will begin adding 3-D printer equipment to its Erlanger plant this month, with completion by mid-2016. The aerospace composite manufacturer signed long-term contracts in mid-2015 with aircraft and rocket manufacturer Snecma (Courcouronnes, France), which are valued at more than $150 million, to support development and manufacture of complex structural and rotating components for the LEAP-1A and LEAP-1B engines.

Also, Nypro Incorporated, which produces plastic injection molding for medical devices as well as packaging, plans to include 3D printing technology at its injection molding plant expansion in Arden, North Carolina. Nypro, part of Jabil Circuit, Inc. (NYSE:JBL) (St. Petersburg, Florida) plans to add 75,000 square feet of space at its plant, which presently has 205,000 square feet.

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