Today, when the tide of digitalization is sweeping, 3D printing, as an emerging manufacturing technology with data as the core, is accelerating the combination with emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data, blockchain, artificial intelligence, etc., which is contributing to the development of various industries. And upgrade to inject innovative kinetic energy. Every ordinary person in it has gradually realized the impact of 3D printing on life.

At present, the domestic 3D printing industry has developed rapidly in Zhejiang, Hubei, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Beijing and other provinces and cities. With the strong support of the government, the 3D printing industry has developed rapidly, and 3D printing industrial parks have continued to emerge. At present, domestic 3D printing industrial parks are mainly distributed in coastal areas, and industrial clusters are also formed in the central area.

Compared with traditional manufacturing processes, 3D printing technology has many advantages such as rapid prototyping, high manufacturing precision, and good ability to form complex structures. Many sub-scenarios of the manufacturing industry gradually use 3D printing for product prototyping, or directly use 3D printing for parts and machine production. The application scope of 3D printing in the industrial field is gradually increasing.

From the perspective of the 3D printing industry chain, it can be divided into 3D printing materials, 3D printing services, 3D printing equipment, and 3D printing applications according to the upstream, middle and downstream. From the perspective of equipment types, 3D printers are mainly divided into consumer grade and industrial grade. Industrial-grade 3D printers are faster and more precise, and are widely used in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, medical and other fields.

According to IDC's "China 3D Printer Market Semi-Annual Tracking Report", since 2015, the shipment and sales of China's industrial-grade 3D printers (equipment of 25K US dollars and above) have continued to grow, and the shipment in the first half of 2019 has increased year-on-year. 5.1%, and sales increased by 9.3% year-on-year. IDC predicts that the annual sales volume in 2019 is expected to exceed 2.7 billion yuan.

According to IDC statistics, the main application of industrial-grade 3D printing is still the production of prototypes (verification samples produced in small quantities before finalizing the product), accounting for as high as 84.1%, and the proportion for finished product production is only 10.1% (the rest). 5.8% is production of auxiliary equipment), which means that 3D printing has great development potential in industrial production.

Generally speaking, the 3D printing prototype must be made by a laser rapid prototyping machine as the first piece. After grinding and polishing, it is a model piece that is used as a mold. The advantage of 3D printing prototype is that it reduces the production cost and time cost, further verifies the possibility of the product designer's creative design, and provides a more reliable guarantee for enterprises to mass-produce certain products.

In addition to the manufacture of automobiles, airplanes, ships and other parts and components, 3D printing can also be used to manufacture robot casings and medical surgical guides. At present, many companies at home and abroad have begun to use 3D printing technology to manufacture robot shells and some plastic parts. Generally, 3D printing photosensitive resin materials are used to print robot shell prototypes, while the functional prototypes inside the robot can be printed with nylon materials.

In traditional manufacturing, companies need to determine the scale of factories and production lines according to customer needs, and also consider a series of production factors such as parts storage, delivery cycle, inventory quantity, transportation costs, and the accompanying changes in labor and taxes. All of this means a lot of cost and risk, and on-demand manufacturing based on 3D printing is expected to change the way products are delivered in traditional manufacturing, making industrial product manufacturing more efficient and smart.

Some researchers pointed out that with the gradual emergence of manufacturing requirements for refined products such as medical, automotive, energy, and aerospace, lightweight design will become an important direction for the development of the 3D printing industry in the future. The weight reduction of 3D printed parts is also a major advantage of 3D printing compared with ordinary product manufacturing processes. Weight reduction of new energy vehicles, artificial skeletons, and rocket loads is likely to become the focus of research in various countries.

It is worth noting that the development of 3D printing materials and the exploration of high value-added customization needs will become the two major driving forces for the further expansion of the entire 3D printing market. High efficiency, low price, and high quality have gradually become 3D printing production. Mainstream points of service. In 2020, high-quality industrial-grade 3D printers will provide more assistance for the manufacture of industrial products.