Covid-19 Impact: 3D Printing Materials Market
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, economies across the globe are under lockdown. This has uprooted the supply chains worldwide and thus severely disrupted trade and major economic activities. However, the covid-19 pandemic has created an opportunity for the players operating in 3D printing industry. With the use of 3D printing technology, designs and prototypes can be built in a short span of time. 3D printing technology helps to fill short term supply gap and thus, overcome supply chain issues.
3D printing technology has been widely used to make necessary medical components to treat covid-19 patients as a result of supply disruptions by the component manufacturers. Various components made by the 3D printing companies include face masks, face shields, mask adjusters, ventilator splitters, nasal swabs, hands-free door openers, and respirator parts. Various additive manufacturing (3D printing) companies are emphasizing on printing and providing designs required for medical equipment. For instance, in April 2020, Materialise developed 3D printed oxygen PEEP mask to meet the increasing shortage for ventilators. Additionally, in May 2020, Stratasys Ltd. in collaboration with various small and large companies started development of face shields and shipped around 100,000 face shields. Around 1700 3D printing specialists developed medical components to help doctors treat the covid affected patients.
The countries where 3D printing industry is at a nascent stage, the 3D players are likely to rely on supplier for 3D printing materials, where, the supply disruptions as a result of lockdown and trade restrictions is likely to affect the growth of 3D printing materials market growth.
Furthermore, the medical components made using 3D printing technology are required to undergo severe testing as specified by the regulatory bodies such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and ASTM International. In addition, 3D printing technology cannot be used for all the types of medical equipment and materials used for manufacturing medical components must be suitable and should not harm the patients.
3D printing materials are used in numerous end-use industries including automotive, aerospace, medical, and building & construction among others. The covid-19 outbreak resulted in supply disruptions in these industries. Also various automotive players halted the production. China saw a 79% drop in the automotive market in February 2020. Also, In Europe, many of the largest automotive groups, including Volkswagen, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA), and Groupe PSA, have shuttered most plants across the continent, effectively halting the entire supply chain for the time being. This is likely to result in increased adoption of 3D printing technology in the aforementioned industries in the coming years to avoid supply disruptions and thus, drive the demand for 3D printing materials. The growth of the medical industry is likely to have significant impact on the growth of the 3D printing materials market in the coming years.
