3D printing

At this year's CEATEC, Japan's largest consumer electronics show, Honda showed an example of its so-called Micro Commuter electric car with a body that's been constructed using additive manufacturing.

The range of available materials is one of the key hurdles to adoption for industrial 3D printing. 3D printing is being rapidly adopted by product manufacturers all around the world, but it still can't compete with many other manufacturing techniques with respect to material diversity.

On Tuesday 6th September, General Electric caused a stir in the 3D printing industry by announcing plans to buy Arcam and SLM Solutions, for a total of $1.4 billion.

The new IDTechEx Research report 3D Printing Materials 2016-2016 has highlighted the growing market for professionals using desktop thermoplastic extrusion 3D printers.

Following the progress of MakerBot, it is easy to be despondent about the whole desktop 3D printing industry.

The unique new IDTechEx Research report, Microcontrollers and Single-board Computers 2016-2026, is the first to reveal the big picture developing from the close relationship between these devices. It provides newly researched forecasts leading to figures such as $300bn in 2026 for SBC alone.

To date, attendee registrations are up by 17% and exhibiting organizations are up by 27% on last year.

The conductive inks and paste business will generate a demand of 1800 tonnes. IDTechEx Research forecasts that this will grow to 2200 by 2026. This business has come alive again and is now a business where literally everything is changing.

Siemens has opened a production facility for metal 3D printed components in Finspång. The investment of around 200 million Swedish Krona (€21.4 million) is the first step in the company's plans for the mass manufacture and repair of metal parts with additive manufacturing.

German industrial machining and tooling equipment manufacturer, Trumpf, has added another type of metal 3D printing technology to its portfolio. This makes Trumpf the only manufacturer to offer all of the major laser 3D printing technologies.