As 3D Printing Grows, Compounders Become Production Partners

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, grew from startup roots in the mid- 1980s to a $2.2 billion business by 2012, according to industry consultants Wohlers Associates, Fort Collins, CO. While it took 20 years to reach the $1 billion plateau, the industry reached its second billion in just five years and is expected to double again to $4 billion by 2015. The explosion of 3D printing has yielded a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent over the last 25 years, according to Wohlers Report 2013.