Summary: New Directions!
3D printing, or Additive Manufacturing (AM), is a revolutionary manufacturing technology that disrupts traditional subtractive manufacturing methods by adding material layer by layer to build objects.
At the heart of this technology is its layer-by-layer manufacturing process, which makes it easy to build complex internal geometries and meet the need for lightweight, integrated molding.
In addition, 3D printing avoids the waste of a large amount of material, as there is no need to cut off the excess parts, and at the same time, unused materials can be recycled, which significantly reduces manufacturing costs.
In terms of R&D cycle, 3D printing has shown great advantages.
When the design needs to be modified, only the design file needs to be adjusted, and there is no need for tedious reassembly of the traditional production line.
This flexibility provides customers with more customization options to meet the diverse needs of the market.
Core drivers
The core driving factors of 3D printing industrialization are the reduction of costs and technological innovation.
Cost reduction: optical photothermal/electronic and electrical/mechanical/metal powder is the main cost of 3D printing equipment.
According to the announcement of BLT, the price of metal 3D printing powder in mainland China continued to decline, and the average selling price of BLT's self-made metal 3D printing powder decreased from 1.4448 million yuan/ton in 2020 to 781,900 yuan/ton in 2022, a decrease of 45.9%.
According to the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the price of 3kW fiber lasers in mainland China has dropped from 400,000 yuan/unit in 2018 to 100,000 yuan/unit in 2021, a decrease of 75.0%.
According to the China Economic Industry Information Research Network, the average price of laser galvanometers in mainland China has dropped from 2225.71 yuan/set in 2017 to 2139.43 yuan/set in 2021, a decrease of 3.9%.
Improve efficiency: 3D printing improves efficiency by increasing the laser head, increasing the layer thickness, changing the powder spreading method, and grafting printing.
According to 3D printing technology reference, since the additive manufacturing industry developed a multi-laser printing strategy in 2017, the printing efficiency of each additional laser head device has increased by 20-50%.
The increase in the thickness of the printing layer can reduce the number of prints and improve the printing efficiency According to Bering 3D printing, when the printing layer height is 100mm (layer thickness 0.1mm), 1000 layers need to be printed, and when the layer thickness is 0.2mm, only 500 layers need to be printed.
Grafting printing refers to not starting from scratch, but completing the additive manufacturing process of parts on existing materialsAccording to the official website of Huashu Hi-Tech, taking e-cigarette molds as an example, Huashu Hi-Tech grafting printing is 70% more efficient than the overall printing efficiency.
According to the official website of Huashu Hi-Tech, the two-way powder laying technology adopted by Huashu FS350M is 38% more efficient than the traditional one-way powder spreading.
Application of new materials: 3D printing can effectively solve the problem of titanium alloy processing.
Titanium alloy materials have problems such as difficult processing and low yield, which makes the manufacturing cost too high.
Through 3D printing technology, especially metal powder laser melting technology, the problem of titanium alloy material forming can be effectively solved, and the production cost is greatly reduced.
Industrial chain
After decades of development, 3D printing has formed a complete industrial chain.
The upstream of the 3D printing industry chain mainly includes 3D modeling tools and raw materials.
Among them, 3D modeling tools include 3D modeling software, 3D modeling scanners and 3D model data platforms, and additive manufacturing raw materials mainly include metal additive manufacturing materials, inorganic non-metallic additive manufacturing materials, organic polymer additive manufacturing materials and biological additive manufacturing materials.
The midstream end of the 3D printing industry chain is equipment and services.
Most of the core patents of 3D printing are held by equipment manufacturers, so they occupy a dominant position in the entire industry chain, and most of these equipment manufacturers also provide printing service business.
In recent years, the integration of the 3D printing industry has intensified, and through the acquisition of 3D printing software companies, material companies, service providers, etc., equipment manufacturers have transformed into comprehensive solution providers, strengthening the overall control of the industrial chain.
Downstream applications are mainly aerospace, medical, automotive, consumer electronics, energy, and construction.
Among them, aerospace is the main driver of the 3D market.
According to an analysis by Straits Research, the global 3D printing market was valued at $1.35 billion in 2021
US dollars, which is expected to reach $8.66 billion by 2030.
The CAGR is 26.1% between 2022 and 2030, with aircraft accounting for the largest share.
In addition, Honor and Apple are expected to introduce titanium alloy 3D printing technology, leading the industry's technology iteration and opening up the potential market for 3D.
It is worth mentioning that some media reported that the application of 3D technology in aviation can infinitely connect with the current flying cars and help the low-altitude economy.
3D printing can quickly manufacture prototypes of physical parts or assemblies, reduce the quality and quantity of parts by optimizing structural design, and realize the lightweight of automobile bodies.
To sum up, 3D printing, as an innovative manufacturing technology, has shown great potential and advantages in terms of cost reduction, efficiency improvement and application of new materials, and is expected to be widely used and promoted in more fields in the future.
(The valuation of related 3D printing concept stocks is shown below, not recommended)