3D Printing Opportunities and Uses Primer for

2017
Published: 9 January 2017 ID: G00318545

Analyst(s): Pete Basiliere

3D printer use in additive manufacturing processes is accelerating across

industries. Gartner's 2017 research will help CIOs assess 3D printing's use
and infrastructure requirements as additive manufacturing transforms its
operations.

Scope
3D printing (3DP) opportunities and uses arise from the hardware, software, materials and services
that enable the additive manufacture of innovative prototypes, tools and finished goods.

The scope of Gartner's coverage spans:

The seven technologies that constitute the 3DP market, as well as new and emerging
technologies, and the capabilities and constraints of each
3D printer hardware used to create 3D-printed prototypes, tools, jigs, fixtures and finished
goods
Software, including computer-aided design (CAD), virtual and augmented reality software used
to create 3D-printable models, as well as workflow and intellectual property (IP) protection
software
3D printable materials used in prototyping, manufacturing and bioprinting
Workflow software required to manage in-house printing, as well as orders fulfilled by the supply
chain, from order entry, to scheduling, to cost accounting
Enterprise architecture tools to ensure rapid, seamless, secure file sharing, plus archival and
retrieval by employees, business partners and customers
Return on investment (ROI) evaluations for the total cost of goods made by 3DP, enabling
decisions on when and where to use 3DP
The enterprise 3D printer manufacturer market worldwide
The enterprise 3D print service bureau market worldwide
 The future direction of 3D printer technologies and materials, and their impact on consumers,
public services and businesses

Analysis
Figure 1. 3D Printing Opportunities and Uses Overview

Source: Gartner (January 2017)

3DP is an additive technique that uses a device to create physical objects from digital models.
While the term "3D printing" took off as the general media hype grew five years ago, many people
prefer to use the term "additive manufacturing," because it reflects not only the technology, but also
its use within enterprises.

3DP is a viable option for many organizations. Enterprise 3D printer capabilities are expanding, with
evolving hardware and software capabilities and an ever-growing range of usable materials.
Nevertheless, in most instances, 3DP has not yet replaced (and in most cases is unlikely to soon
replace) conventional high-volume production methods.

The range of professionals seeking insights about the 3D printing market is diverse and global:

CIOs and other IT staff who are identifying opportunities to deploy 3DP

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 Supply chain professionals studying mass customization and moving production closer to its
use
Professionals in vertical markets ranging from consumer goods, to manufacturers, to the
military
Investors requiring insight about 3DP market growth opportunities and risks

Our coverage synthesizes the potential opportunities and applications with the fact-based insights
every organization wants and needs to know: whether, when and how to invest in 3DP.

Top Challenges and How Gartner Can Help

3D printers are used to augment, improve or expand product lines; provide new revenue sources;
and develop customized or personalized new products. Hype is still a factor, and companies
evaluating or planning to use 3DP are often concerned about limiting characteristics related to cost,
throughput and quality. To ensure success, CIOs and IT leaders must learn about 3DP hardware,
software and materials; position 3DP in their business models; and develop a robust infrastructure
and the business capabilities to support 3DP. Gartner helps find solutions to the following
questions.

What are the best practices for determining when and where to deploy 3D printers?
3DP is composed of seven different technologies (see Note 1). The first step is to become familiar
with the technologies, their capabilities and constraints, and the related 3D scanners, CAD or 3D
modeling software, and printable materials. Organizations must begin the 3DP evaluation process
with the end product in mind to narrow the focus on what is truly needed from the varying ranges of
technologies, build sizes, materials and production quality. We advise you to collaborate with your
engineering, manufacturing and marketing peers to:

Determine the material and quality requirements of the items that will be printed
Evaluate which is the best 3DP hardware, software and material technology
Conduct an end-to-end ROI analysis of the potential 3D printing technology uses with your
existing production processes
Select the right 3D printer manufacturer and printer model for the desired output

To explore opportunities for exploiting 3DP, you must determine whether the organization has the
need or opportunity to:

Enable product designs that are unconstrained by the limits of traditional manufacturing
processes
Improve product R&D processes by rapidly prototyping products
Add value by personalizing products for customers
Provide 3DP services to retail customers, including real-time merchandising

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 Streamline manufacturing processes by rapidly producing tools, jigs and fixtures
Shorten the supply chain, outsource certain production activities and reduce inventory by
printing parts prior to assembly or close to the demand
Decrease machine downtime by producing parts on demand, particularly at remote locations

We encourage you to work closely with business and operations management peers to identify 3DP
opportunities while crowdsourcing ideas on how to leverage 3DP by engaging your employees,
customers or partners in ideation. Evaluate how other organizations within your industry are
leveraging 3DP, especially "near-neighbor industries," as potential sources of disruptive uses.
Linking use cases to business capabilities is a key step in identifying opportunities for innovation
that can be presented to senior management.

Note, too, that it is not necessary to purchase a 3D printer to explore or implement 3DP. The cost of
investing in industrial 3DP is still quite high for most enterprises, and the range of materials, time
involved and skills required to operate the printers make 3DP a specialist activity. Organizations
often use 3DP service bureaus to experiment and to avoid or delay investing in a 3DP, to test the
3DP process before buying a printer, and to experiment with different 3DP technologies. 3DP
service bureaus can offer access relatively quickly and at a reasonable cost, and may provide
creative, design and engineering services.

Planned Research

Market Guide for 3D Printer Manufacturers

Market Guide for 3D Print Service Bureaus
Innovation Technology Insight: 3D-Printable Materials
How to Manage the 3D Print Prototyping Process
Computer-Aided Design and Modeling Software for Additive Manufacturing
3DP Applied in Specific Vertical Industries

What are the best practices for providing a robust infrastructure to support 3DP?
The opportunities for 3DPs are great, but so are the risks. Concerns are emerging as large files and
protected IP (like CAD diagrams) are increasingly routed around organizations and to the supply
chain, enterprise customers and consumers. You may choose to share files to generate revenue,
minimize inventory carrying costs or to extend your offering into new markets. But this must be
thoroughly vetted and operationalized to avoid potential legal difficulties.

Manufacturers and other users of 3D designs are finding that managing the IP risks associated with
3DP is a critical challenge. The licensing and manufacturing specifications for legally and safely
reproducing parts using 3DP are in embryonic stages. A 3D-printed part created with the original
print file may be virtually undistinguishable from a part created by the original manufacturer, making
counterfeit parts easier to produce and nearly impossible to detect. Conversely, organizations that

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 provide 3D-printed goods must be able to prove that their 3D-printed part did not cause a
catastrophic failure and that it was the counterfeit 3D-printed item that did.

CIOs and their IT staff must protect the designs of products created with 3DP processes and
securely manage the availability of 3D designs and print files. This is the sweet spot for IT every
user of a 3D printer and every AM process in the supply chain relies on this support. CIOs should:

Consider how you will support a marketing decision to share files, knowing that the recipient will
3D-print the items, possibly with a poor finish or unacceptable performance characteristics.
Develop (in conjunction with the organization's legal and compliance department) principles to
guide the use of 3DP technologies to avoid loss, theft or misuse of IP.
Ensure that your enterprise architects explore options for the security and management of
critical 3DP designs.

While engineering, operations and supply chain professionals are the primary buyers or users of 3D
printers, CIOs and IT leaders must support 3D printers with a robust infrastructure that enables
collaboration and file sharing with supply chain partners and even customers, while enabling
security and IP protection.

We also believe that 3DP will be an increasingly important vehicle for creating "digital twins" that
represent parts of the physical world. Gartner defines the concept of digital twin as "a dynamic
software model of a physical thing or system that relies on sensor data to understand the state of
the thing or system, respond to changes, improve operations, and add value." As noted in "Top 10
Strategic Technology Trends for 2017," the idea of modeling common things cars, buildings,
industrial and consumer products, even people from virtual models, with functional behavior
embedded to make day-to-day decisions about the physical world, is just emerging.

3D printing and digital twins will intersect as operations managers enable a broader set of assets
where the cost-benefit analysis of risks in operations makes the case for digital twins compelling,
such as:

Repairing equipment and planning for its return to service

Predicting equipment failure or increased operational efficiency
Developing and modifying manufacturing processes
Performing enhanced product development

In these instances and more, rapid and iterative physical modeling with 3D printing will enable
validation of digital twin simulations as proxies for skilled individuals (such as technicians) and
traditional monitoring devices and controls (for example, pressure gauges and pressure valves).

Planned Research

3D Printing and Intellectual Property Protection

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 Enabling Secure Additive Manufacturing With Blockchain
Additive Manufacturing and Digital Twins at the Intersection of Virtual and Physical
Integrating 3DP Into Manufacturing Operations/Factory Floors (for example, hybrid tools, such
as robots with 3DP "heads")

How do I transform the innovative ideas enabled by 3DP into business opportunities that
exploit 3DP technologies within my organization?
Historically, 3DP was only accessible by manufacturing and, to a small extent, marketing
organizations. The result was inadvertent restrictions on use that were limited to people with a
perceived "need to know." Organizations that already have 3DPs should make them widely available
for testing ideas. For example, manufacturing firms are establishing "maker spaces," where
production workers are able to 3D-print and then finish their process improvement ideas. At a
minimum, order 3D-printed items from a service bureau to experiment with 3D-printed products and
other uses.

If your organization does not already have 3D printers, then you should at least install one or two
low-cost printers on-site for any employee to use, since creativity and innovation span the entire
organization. Furthermore, this will help the organization gain a solid understanding of 3DP
hardware, software and materials while communicating a message about the potential for
innovation derived from 3DP to receptive stakeholders across your organization.

CIOs and IT leaders can start by examining the business capabilities that are most likely to have
requirements that can leverage 3D printing. Help your peers in operations and finance determine
where and when to invest in 3DP by comparing key aspects of your current and alternative 3DP
processes while exploring the markets for new products produced with 3D printers.

One way to assist in the evaluation is to share relevant use cases from specific, related industries.
We will provide "board presentation ready" examples from aerospace, automotive, healthcare and
medical devices, heavy industries, manufacturing, retail, utilities, and other markets that will help
you build a case, so to speak, for additive manufacturing.

At the same time, you must also look around the technology curve for 3DP technologies that will
arrive in the future, even if they are not currently justifiable or practical. Given the current state of
AM use cases, the business capabilities most likely to be affected include:

Product R&D and design innovation

Production line setup
Equipment maintenance (part repair and replacement)
Manufacturing (finished goods and subassemblies, and custom or short-run quantities)
3DP in medical device and organ-building evolution

In the meantime, CIOs in your organizations making physical goods or parts must understand the
3D/AM performance and price cost curves. Accurate costs for the current manufacturing processes,

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 something that is an oxymoron for many enterprises, must be compiled and understood. Only then
can leaders determine what the true, fully loaded costs of additive manufacturing are versus existing
processes.

Finally, at the end of the day, 3D printing is a means to new concepts, new products and new
revenue. Our research will illustrate how additive design and manufacturing offer new solutions to
old and emerging problems yours and your customers'.

Planned Research

Fifty Additive Manufacturing Examples: A CIO and CEO Resource

Technology Overview Series: Material Extrusion, Material Jetting, Powder Bed Fusion and
Directed Energy Deposition
The Additive Manufacturing Cost Curve and ROI

How are 3DP technologies, materials and services affecting the supply chain?
3DP technology could radically alter supply chains by postponing production to the latest point
possible to meet individualized demand. This change arises from not just the postponement of
production and reduction of cost to serve, but also the nature of different relationships among
customers, suppliers and outsourcers. As 3DP delivers on this promise, it will disrupt entire supply
chains by enabling organizations to respond to actual demand, eliminate excess inventory and
maximize plant capacity.

But the impact will vary by supply chain and industry. Organizations will have to:

Identify where in the supply chain and for which functions 3DP logically and operationally fits
and will provide the greatest value
Understand the impact that 3DP will have on supplier relationships, supply network design and
product portfolios in addition to overall costs to serve
Weigh supplier capabilities, risk management, IP protection and compliance guidelines
Allocate design and manufacturing engineering resources to determine what existing parts
could possibly be manufactured using 3DP
Evaluate 3DP materials and process reliability, delivery and fulfillment processes, and the cost
to serve
Analyze the make-versus-buy choice while assessing where in their supply chains and for which
markets 3DP will have the most impact
Evaluate where the cost of remote 3DP vs. remote spares inventory makes sense

As these impacts become defined more clearly, the technology will become truly transformative.

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 Planned Research

Market Guide for 3D Print Service Bureaus, 2017

3D Printing and the Supply Chain Business Case

What are the key disruptive forces affecting the 3DP market?
As Figure 1 illustrates, 3DP disrupts in four ways: innovation, ideation, creation and protection. The
nature and timing of these disruptive forces impact enterprise 3DP technology users and service
providers, as well as consumer and business users. Our annual research dedicated to the 3D
printing and additive manufacturing markets enables you to understand their current and future
state.

Planned Research

Hype Cycle for 3D Printing

Cool Vendors in 3D Printing
Predicts 2017: 3D Printing

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 Related Priorities
Table 1. Related Priorities

Priority Focus

Aligning IT, IoT and Aligning IT, IoT and operational technology investments addresses the integration of
Operational Technology these systems and the information they generate in order to power digital business.
Investments

Technology and Solutions for Technology and solutions for supply chain and operations cover the strategy of
Supply Chain and Operations bimodal IT with the selection of software and services and the development of a
technology and business architecture.

Exploit Print Market Dynamics Exploit print market dynamics is a Gartner initiative that addresses the strategic
opportunities that imaging and print providers have to maintain revenue and move
into new growth areas.

Optimize End-to-End Supply Optimizing end-to-end supply chain performance requires CSCOs to deploy
Chain Performance improvement initiatives across people, processes and technologies while supporting
ongoing operations.

Using EA to Master Emerging Most leading enterprise architects are being tasked with driving digital business
and Strategic Trends execution. To be successful, they must understand the key business and technology
trends driving change.

Accelerating R&D and New This initiative focuses on accelerating innovation for the global life science industry
Product Innovation in Life by improving and innovating in the precommercialization stages of the product
Sciences development life cycle.

Source: Gartner

Suggested First Steps

Read the "Technology Overview" series of reports on the different 3DP technologies to gain a
solid grounding in them, their respective capabilities and constraints, and typical technology
providers.
Read "Market Guide for 3D Printer Manufacturers, 2016" to learn about 60 manufacturers that
provide enterprise additive manufacturing devices, with profiles of representative technology
providers.
Read "Market Guide for 3D Print Service Bureaus, 2015" to understand the service bureau (also
known as contract manufacturing) market and opportunities.

Essential Reading
"Hype Cycle for 3D Printing, 2016"

"Predicts 2017: 3D Printing Accelerates"

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 "What 3D Printing Means for Your Supply Chain"

"Innovation Insight for 3D Print Workflow Software"

Tools and Toolkits

"Toolkit: What Enterprise Architects Need to Know About 3D Printing"

Representative Analysts
Pete Basiliere

Rick Franzosa

Marc Halpern

Dale Kutnick

Nigel Montgomery

Mike Shanler

Vi Shaffer

Note 1 3D Print Technology Definitions of the Seven Different Technologies

These definitions are taken from "ASTM F2792-12a, Standard Terminology for Additive
Manufacturing Technologies," ASTM International, 2012.

Binder jetting An additive manufacturing process in which a liquid bonding agent is

selectively deposited to join powder materials.
Directed-energy deposition An additive manufacturing process in which focused thermal
energy is used to fuse materials by melting as they are being deposited. "Focused thermal
energy" means that an energy source (for example, laser, electron beam or plasma arc) is
focused to melt the materials being deposited.
Material extrusion An additive manufacturing process in which material is selectively
dispensed through a nozzle or orifice.
Material jetting An additive manufacturing process in which droplets of build material are
selectively deposited. Example materials include photopolymer and wax.
Powder bed fusion An additive manufacturing process in which thermal energy selectively
fuses regions of a powder bed.
Sheet lamination An additive manufacturing process in which sheets of material are bonded
to form an object.

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 Stereolithography An additive manufacturing process in which liquid photopolymer in a vat
is selectively cured by light-activated polymerization. Referred to as "vat photopolymerization"
by ASTM International, this technology is commonly called "stereolithography."

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