In addition to these informative posts, for the second year now, Sculpteo has also launched a recurring series of posts for their “State of 3D Printing 2016” industry report, which acts as an in-depth examination of the current trends and characteristics of the additive manufacturing market. The report is based on information provided by around 1,000 online respondents located all around the world, a majority of which are from Europe (55%) or the United States (39%). These survey participants come from a multitude of professional backgrounds, including CEOs, engineers, freelancers, and designers.
For starters, 95% of these Power Users declare themselves as professionals, while 88% among those see themselves as experts to intermediate 3D printing. An even greater percentage (97%) of the so-called ‘Power Users’ note the competitive advantage that 3D printing technology provides to them over other organizations and companies. They’re are also more than twice as likely (59%) to rank accelerating product development as a top priority compared to non-power users (26%). In addition, 61% of these boundary pushing respondents have generated return on investment (ROI) through their use of 3D printing, much higher than the 40% of non-power users who claim the same.
Undoubtedly, the 3D printing industry is chock-full of so many different technologies and potential applications, that it’s been hard to dictate who is truly pioneering additive manufacturing. But, thanks to Sculpteo’s “State of 3D Printing” industry report, as well as their wide range of professional survey respondents, we are now better able to figure out who these true ‘Power Users’ are, as well as what they’re getting out of this emerging manufacturing technology. You can check out a summary of the 2016 “State of 3D Printing”, which details six key takeaways from their industry report, here. Discuss further in the 3D Printing Power Users forum over at 3DPB.com.