Wohlers Report 2000
Rapid Prototyping &
Tooling State of the Industry
Annual Worldwide Progress Report
To display a list of those who contributed to the report, click here.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
About the author
Focus of this report
Introduction to rapid prototyping and tooling
PART
1: BACKGROUND
History of RP systems
Industries being served
How RP models are being used
Installations by country
Applications
Communication
Engineering changes
Good ideas and powerful proposals
Concept models
Verifying CAD databases
Styling, ergonomic studies
Functional testing
Prototypes and prototype tooling
Metal castings
Early input from suppliers, toolmakers
Requesting quotes
PART
2: INDUSTRY GROWTH
Improving market
Number of models being produced
Encouraging growth, challenges ahead
Revenue growth
Revenues from products and
services
Secondary market
Revenues from service bureaus
Other service revenues
Unit sales
3D Systems regains the lead
Systems sold by region in 1999
Cumulative systems sold by region
Units sold by U.S. manufacturers in 1999
Units sold by Japanese manufacturers in 1999
1998-1999 unit sales by manufacturer
Cumulative unit sales by manufacturer
Unit sales by vendor and
year
3D printer unit sales by vendor and year
Growth trends and sales forecasts
Unit sales growth percentages
Worldwide revenue estimates
Annual revenue growth percentages
Comparing growth of RP and machining markets
Service bureaus
Concentration of service bureaus
Mix of machines
Market segment continues to shrink
Number of models produced by SBs
Patterns for investment casting
Working with service bureaus
Changing times
What is driving prices downward?
More challenges are
ahead
Market is improving
What lies ahead?
PART
3: TOOLING
Advances
Growing list of methods
Conformal cooling channels
Risk factors
Indirect approaches
Silicone rubber tooling
Aluminum-filled
epoxy tooling
Spray
metal tooling
RSP
Tooling
Ford's
Sprayform
Cast
kirksite tooling
3D
Keltool
PolySteel
ECOTOOL
Express
Tool
CEMCOM
Swiftool
PHAST
Direct
approaches
Direct
AIM tooling
Copper
Polyamide
RapidTool
DMLS
ProMetal
LENS
Other
considerations
Machined
tooling
Laminate
tooling
Hybrid
tooling
Space
Puzzle Molding
Prototype
tooling selection guide
Tool
design software
Size
of tooling market
PART
4: SYSTEM MANUFACTURERS
3D
Systems
New
management
ThermoJet
3D
Keltool
Aaroflex
Beijing
Yinhua
Cubital
DTM
Increasing
number of materials
RapidTool
EOS
F&S
GmbH
Helisys
Kinergy
Objet
Optomec
Röders
Sanders
Prototype
Sanders
Design International
Buss
Müller Technology
Schroff
Development
Stratasys
WaterWorks
Simplicity,
throughput
Z
Corp.
Color system
Materials
RP
stocks
Improving
earnings
Global
economy
Market
sentiment towards small cap stocks improving
PART
5: ASIA & EUROPE
Asia
Sales
activity
Factors
affecting RP involvement in Asia
Japan
Markets
embracing RP
Unit
sales growth
Japanese
strategy
Developments
and trends in Japan
RP
system using LEDs
Material
and software developments
3D
printing for concept modeling
Why
has RP growth been slow?
Tooling
and high-speed machining in Japan
Europe
EU
support
United
Kingdom
Germany
Italy
France
Sweden
Finland
Denmark
The
Netherlands
Other
regions
Brazil
India
South
Africa
Australia
Canada
RP
groups and associations
PART
6: RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Developments,
patents
Buss
Müller Technology
MicroTEC
Precision
Optical Manufacturing
CAM-LEM
Offset
Fabrication
Micromod
University
of Utah
MIT's
3DP technology, licensees
U.S.
government-sponsored R&D
NSF
funding
DoD
RP
academic programs
Hurdles
and hindrances
Research
activities
PART
7: CAD & COMPUTING
CAD/CAM/CAE
Advances
in computing
Operating
systems
Growth
of solid modeling
Interoperability
and data translation
Viewing
and visual collaboration
Machining
STL data
Software
for RP
SolidView
Magics,
Mimics, and Magics Communicator
View
Expert and 3Data Expert
3D
View
Rapid
Prototyping Module
Velocity2
Rhino
StlView
The
Internet phenomenon
Internet-based
software
Collaboration
tools
Information
retrieval
Part
geometry on-line
Quoting
on the web
RP
community shares information
PART
8: OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
RP
materials
Stereolithography
resins
Materials
for other RP processes
3D
printers
Medical
modeling
Research
areas in medical RP
RP
is impacting the lives of patients
RP
helps forensic anthropologists
Reverse
engineering
How
the technology works
Methods
of data collection
Final
advice
PART
9: WHERE IT'S ALL HEADED
Climbing
the chasm walls
Technology
adoption life cycle
CAD
solid modeling as a gating factor
RP's
past
RP
today
What
needs to happen
The
tornado
How
do identify emergence from the chasm
Incremental,
complementary, and replacement technology
3D
printing: complementary or replacement?
Objet's
impact
Virtual
prototyping: will it be a replacement?
What
to expect
The
future
3D
printing
Will
digital models replace physical prototypes?
Rapid
manufacturing
Changes
ahead
Long-term
outlook
Systems
of the future
Future
applications
What
to do
Where
to learn more
Internet
mail list
GARPA
RPA/SME
APPENDICES
Appendix
A: Glossary of terms
Appendix
B: Addresses of RP system manufacturers
United
States
Israel
Europe
Japan
China
Singapore
Appendix
C: Rapid tooling technology developers
United
States
Europe
Appendix
D: RP software companies
Appendix
E: Material suppliers
Appendix
F: U.S. RP system specifications
Appendix
G: RP systems manufactured outside the U.S.
Appendix
H: Materials
Appendix
I: 3D data collection systems