'We Are Here' - The Bottom Line of Rapid 2008
Orlando - As the final keynote speaker at this year's RAPID 2008, consultant Terry Wohlers offered his forecast for the continued growth of the additive fabrication industry.
By 2012, Wohlers predicts, revenues for the industry will surpass $2.3 billion. This may be, by his own admission, a conservative estimate.
Those who work in the additive fabrication sector - including system manufacturers and service providers, can be proud of their achievements and the percentage increases they've generated in recent years.
But - and this is a BIG BUT - any objective evaluation of the AF-RAPID industry would have to admit that other industries that were created long, long after ours - such as the online advertising industry - already dwarf the additive fabrication world in only a few short years of existence.
Every SME member attending Wohlers speech received an eight-page executive summary of his definitive industry analysis - Wohlers Report 2008. The full 240-page softbound publication sells for $475 and offers a broad and deep view of the entire industry. (To order, visit: www.wohlerassociates.com)
By most measures, additive fabrication has developed and evolved impressively," Wohlers writes in the executive summary. Witness the fact that during the four-year period, 2004-2007, Wohlers says that sales of additive fabrication products and services surged by 116%.
But that surge amounted to a four-year total increase of $612 million in absolute dollars, about the amount Google, Inc. spends annually on fuel for its fleet of jets.
Okay, so that's an exaggeration. Google probably doesn't spend that much on fuel. But the point is that our industry hasn't set its sights high enough and we are too easily satisfied with the kind of growth that Wohlers is tracking.
Given the potential for additive fabrication to revolutionize manufacturing globally, how is it that we are still starring starry-eyed at that day -- a few years hence, when we'll cross the $2.3 billion in annual revenues threshold?
The problem is that most of the world has no clue how additive fabrication technologies can be deployed to help their businesses succeed. Entrepreneurs have not yet recognized that AF opens the door to a wide array of new investment opportunities. And members of our industry have been so focused on developing our technologies, that they've lost site of the need to effectively market them.
Our industry needs to undertake an informational and marketing effort to shout at the world - "We Are Here."
My impression of this year's RAPID conference, presented by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, is that it is a fantastic event for those individuals who are already members of the "choir." But the event preaches to itself.
My goal, and it should be one shared by everyone in the Additive Fabrication industry, is to reach out to the uninitiated and show them what a powerful industry ours can and will be.
"We Are Here." Remember that!
Photo: Terry Wohlers by Dean Rotbart
By 2012, Wohlers predicts, revenues for the industry will surpass $2.3 billion. This may be, by his own admission, a conservative estimate.
Those who work in the additive fabrication sector - including system manufacturers and service providers, can be proud of their achievements and the percentage increases they've generated in recent years.
But - and this is a BIG BUT - any objective evaluation of the AF-RAPID industry would have to admit that other industries that were created long, long after ours - such as the online advertising industry - already dwarf the additive fabrication world in only a few short years of existence.Every SME member attending Wohlers speech received an eight-page executive summary of his definitive industry analysis - Wohlers Report 2008. The full 240-page softbound publication sells for $475 and offers a broad and deep view of the entire industry. (To order, visit: www.wohlerassociates.com)
By most measures, additive fabrication has developed and evolved impressively," Wohlers writes in the executive summary. Witness the fact that during the four-year period, 2004-2007, Wohlers says that sales of additive fabrication products and services surged by 116%.
But that surge amounted to a four-year total increase of $612 million in absolute dollars, about the amount Google, Inc. spends annually on fuel for its fleet of jets.
Okay, so that's an exaggeration. Google probably doesn't spend that much on fuel. But the point is that our industry hasn't set its sights high enough and we are too easily satisfied with the kind of growth that Wohlers is tracking.
Given the potential for additive fabrication to revolutionize manufacturing globally, how is it that we are still starring starry-eyed at that day -- a few years hence, when we'll cross the $2.3 billion in annual revenues threshold?
The problem is that most of the world has no clue how additive fabrication technologies can be deployed to help their businesses succeed. Entrepreneurs have not yet recognized that AF opens the door to a wide array of new investment opportunities. And members of our industry have been so focused on developing our technologies, that they've lost site of the need to effectively market them.
Our industry needs to undertake an informational and marketing effort to shout at the world - "We Are Here."
My impression of this year's RAPID conference, presented by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, is that it is a fantastic event for those individuals who are already members of the "choir." But the event preaches to itself.
My goal, and it should be one shared by everyone in the Additive Fabrication industry, is to reach out to the uninitiated and show them what a powerful industry ours can and will be.
"We Are Here." Remember that!
Photo: Terry Wohlers by Dean Rotbart
We need to build the ROI and Cost justification case just like the early days of CNC machines. Once the management sees it as a viable alternative to “HARD” manufacturing then we will begin to see widespread adoption. Another holdback is materials while vendors have came leaps and bounds with materials to be truly accepted as a front line manufacturing the materials science part needs to remove roadblocks like “like” “Similar” and such.
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Excellent observations. Thanks. It would be helpful for anyone who has successfully made the case to management using ROI to share it with us. I'd be happy to remove any identifiable information from such a document. As for the vendors of materials and their role, I've heard a great deal about this and think it is worth a full report on L-VMA. Anyone else who has ideas or comments -- please post them here! -- Dean
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