3D Printing Predictions for 2025: Metal 3D Printing

Metal 3D printing has grown significantly over the past few decades. With applications ranging from orthopedic implants to rocket propulsion, it has become a cornerstone technology in several critical industries. We are witnessing an E-Beam renaissance, and machines now feature 20 or more lasers. While some companies have thrived, others have struggled. The melt pool remains an enigma, and progress is often hindered by smoke and mirrors. So, what insights do leading experts have about what 2025 will bring?

John Barnes, principal at the Barnes Global Advisors, articulates a shift in the industry’s focus, stating,

“We will see an increasing shift to services; the emphasis will be more on part manufacture and much less attention will be paid to equipment sales. Elegant printers will give way to functional machines that are more productive and better suited to the applications for which they are made. The latent capacity of the industry will increase somewhat, but I believe the old, single and twin laser systems will find a home in R&D as people migrate to the faster multi-laser systems. Meanwhile, DED will start to hit its stride, making larger parts now that its smaller brethren in PBF have opened so many doors. Defense will increasingly move to AM, albeit slowly. Remember that slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Material sales will continue to grow as a result. Lastly, awesome engineers will continue to be an invaluable asset, especially those with AM experience.”

Echoing Barnes’s perspective on innovation and transition within the industry, Ruben Wauthle, CEO of Belgian implant 3D printing service AMNovis, highlights the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead:

“In 2025, the metal AM industry will face intensified competition as more OEMs, particularly from China, enter the market with similar machines at lower prices. This increasing price pressure could drive innovation, encouraging manufacturers to develop simpler and more cost-effective machines instead of adding complexity. I personally am waiting for a company to disrupt the metal AM market the way Formlabs did for polymer printing! At the same time, overcapacity, particularly in sectors like medical device printing, poses risks, leading to underutilized machines and potential shutdowns. While overall demand for metal AM contract manufacturing is growing across industries, not all companies will survive, as oversupply may force some to scale back operations.”

Both Ruben and John highlight the potential of simpler, cheaper machines. The emergence of a “Formlabs for metal” could spark a true revolution—not just catering to 1,000 industrial businesses but reaching 500,000 production units and factories globally.

Reflecting on a strategic shift in the sector, Marcus Pont, CEO of Domin, suggests a more problem-oriented approach to innovation in AM:

“I think next year, we’ll see the change from people investing billions in creating solutions and hoping to find problems to a world where people search for problems and realize that 3D printing can be a solution. This will lead to the creation of new companies focused on creating value through applications and potentially to the consolidation of processes where we will see the long-term stable processes win out.”

Stable, long-term strategies without investor pandering? Sign me up. I firmly believe that application-focused firms hold the key to the future of additive manufacturing. Fabian Alefeld, Director of Business Development & Academy, Global Additive Minds of EOS, builds on this narrative with a focus on process stability:

“In 2025, we expect the emphasis on reshoring and resilient manufacturing to continue to grow, spotlighting AM’s ability to ramp up production quickly while reducing risk and lessening dependencies on global logistics. Additionally, we foresee a shift in AM production towards higher volume and greater reliability, with companies accessing total cost of ownership (TCO) metrics that ensure scalability for critical manufacturing environments. As confidence and demand for this industrial technology continue to build, companies harnessing AM will achieve long-term sustainability and economic viability in 2025 and beyond.”

The steady as she goes approach seems to be the right solution for the times. Over at SLM Solutions, Hamid Zarringhalam, Corporate Vice President of the Nikon Corporation and CEO of Nikon Advanced Manufacturing, underscores the strategic importance of additive manufacturing amid economic and geopolitical shifts:

“The mood, particularly in the U.S., appears to be one of growth. If that is sustained, combined with inflation—and therefore interest rates—staying in check (a big if), this should bode well for capital spending by mainstream customers. Strategic investments for capability and capacity will generally be shielded from the short-term economic environment, and to that end, strategic investments, especially for the defense industrial base, will continue. Trade and global geopolitics will continue to be the driving forces for onshoring or reshoring of capacity, particularly among allies. The capital markets’ impact on consolidation can be mixed: either accelerating needed consolidation to ensure resiliency and the ability for investment in innovation or delaying the inevitable. With continued innovation by those able to do it and continuous improvement in speed and quality, adoption should continue, although slower than all of us in the industry would like. Given the dual-purpose nature of AM, we should expect further restrictions on export control and supply chain vulnerabilities.”

Once again, there’s a clear emphasis on steady growth and continuous quality improvements. Hamid’s differentiation between investment motives and their implications in the current economic climate is particularly insightful. This dynamic is likely to impact various industry players differently. Trade, economics, defense, and reshoring continue to emerge as recurring themes.

Professor of Additive Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham & Director of Contract Research firm Added Scientific, Richard Hague, said,

¨With the glut of laser powder bed fusion providers, one major challenge will be the increased competition in this sector, especially from the east and so I worry for the viability of many of the companies out there as margins will be squeezed – though this increased competition could also lead to it being more cost effective for companies to implement metal-AM into their business, so there is a flip side.

Functionality-wise, I’m most excited to see the developments in multi-material LPBF – for example, the recently upgraded three roller system from aerosint is a significant improvement on the previous two roller set up that was simply too wasteful of unused powder (which basically had to be scrapped). Other companies are also forging ahead in this emerging field. I’m not sure we fully understand where these multi-material systems will be used, but I am certain that commercial use-cases will come in time, technical challenges notwithstanding!

One emerging technique I´m particularly enthusiastic about, now referred to by its growing community as “molten metal jetting,”  is beginning to gather pace with new systems coming to the market alongside increased interest from industry and researchers. It’s not yet competitive with LPBF, but I think it will finds its niche and has particular potential for multmaterials too.¨

I´m super excited about multi-material metal for implants, space propulsion and many industrial applications. I´m also a fan of the work Richard and his colleagues are doing on multi metal and multi material using the aerosint head. The Schaeffler Special Machinery multimaterial printer was my favorite thing at Formnext. Titanium on titanium implants (Ti64 for strength, CP for biocompatibility?) alone could become a billion dollar revenue opportunity at the very least. Ruben’s AMNovis is the first customer for Schaeffler, and I can not wait to see how they will deploy multilateral metal in orthopedics. And I completely agree with Richard, I have no idea where this is headed but it’s very exciting.

JEOL EBM 3D printer. Image courtesy of JEOL.

Another exciting thing is EBM. At JEOL, Corporate Officer Shoji Shiota elaborates on the technical evolution expected in the industry:

“We believe industrial 3D printing will continue to mature and focus on application-driven uses in core sectors like medical, aerospace, space, energy, and defense. With the advent of a new generation of machines from companies like JEOL, we expect Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion (EB-PBF) to gain renewed prominence, fueled by advancements in processing high-melting-point metals like tungsten and the rising demand for specialized manufacturing solutions.

“Technological advancements and cost reductions derived from EB-PBF are paving the way for large-scale production and a wider array of applications. As AM technology is used more in manufacturing, quality control will become more important. Machine builders will need to find ways to detect and analyze defects in printed parts, and to track the conditions used in the manufacturing process. These are key topics we see for the future of AM technology.Tungsten has long been a relatively overlooked material in our industry, aside from its niche use in CT scanning collimators and by the occasional adventurous F1 team for balancing cars. However, a quiet surge in tungsten-related printing applications is taking shape. Despite its brittleness and printing challenges, tungsten is finding new roles in nuclear power, tokamaks, space and missile propulsion, and armor, with high-end parts steadily emerging.”

Shoji’s emphasis on EB-PBF technology’s role in processing challenging materials like tungsten leads us seamlessly into the thoughts of Ulf Ackelid, Principal Scientist at Freemelt. Ulf focuses on the burgeoning field of refractory metals within the additive manufacturing landscape:

“We have seen an increasing interest in additively manufactured refractory metals such as tungsten and molybdenum recently, both in the short-term and long-term, and we expect this market to surge further in 2025. There are two obvious reasons. The first is that there are ongoing, multinational fusion energy initiatives focusing on solving future energy needs on a global scale, with the smallest possible carbon footprint. In fusion reactors, materials with extreme heat resistance will be needed, and tungsten is an obvious candidate here. If successful, this will be a high-volume application for tungsten. The second reason is the increased geopolitical tensions that focus on the defense industry and military applications. Refractory metals and alloys find multiple uses in this context due to their unique material properties, such as high density, high hardness, high heat conductivity, and high wear resistance. A contributing factor to the rapidly increased AM interest in refractory metals is that these materials are very challenging to manufacture in complex shapes using conventional methods. Additive manufacturing, and particularly hot processing using PBF-EB, has the unique potential to produce refractory metals of higher material quality than ever before.”

Tungsten nozzles made on a Freemelt.

Introducing refractory materials into factories through additive manufacturing could potentially surpass the entire current 3D printing market. If E-beam technology can meet the anticipated demand for these parts, it could drive significant additional growth. Overall, the level of alignment across the industry is striking. The metal 3D printing sector appears to be moving steadily toward slow adoption, driven by gradual improvements in quality—a stark contrast to the “3D print all the things” slogans of the past. Tempered by realism, these more measured ambitions could ultimately become reality.