- Sigma Labs highlighted in Barron’s as the ‘quality control of the 3-D printing world’.
- 3D printing demand fueled by increasing industry adoption, rising investments.
- 35% annual growth forecast for the foreseeable future.
- SGLB’s PrintRite3D(R) software eliminates quality-assurance barriers to 3D-metal-printing growth; only product of its kind enabling in-process quality control.
Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ: SGLB), a leading developer of quality-assurance software for the commercial 3D-printing industry, is steadily strengthening its position in the burgeoning additive marketing (AM), or 3D metal printing, space. While forecast numbers vary, a recent “Barron’s” article quotes an industry expert predicting consistent 35% annual growth in the specialized market for the foreseeable future (http://ibn.fm/4FS6K). That growth, said the article, comes as 3D metal printing technology partnered with artificial intelligence offers significant benefits in a wide range of verticals. With its unmatched quality control technology, SGLB appears positioned at the vanguard of an industry poised for explosive growth.
As the applicability of 3D metal printing continues to be realized across an increasingly varied list of industries—from healthcare to aerospace to high-end automotive manufacturing—analysts are struggling to pin down even an approximate estimate for the market’s potential size. Whether it be a question of millions of dollars—or billions—experts are preparing for the next stage in the nascent industry’s evolution (http://ibn.fm/BtRrA).
“We have a market [of] $1 or $2 billion in parts today,” said Claus Emmelmann, head of Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, a leading institute for development of industrial solutions in additive marketing. That figure only accounts for less than 1% of Emmelmann’s definition for the overall market of metal parts—and Emmelmann believes the market will grow about 35% a year for “a long time,” with 3-D metal printing potentially becoming a $50 billion business by the end of the decade.
While the benefits of 3D metal printing are significant, technological barriers have impeded industrial adoption. “One of the most important problems is qualifying the production of parts,” said Emmelmann, who stressed that the process for designing and qualifying satisfactory parts is expensive and time consuming.
Scaling volume for 3D metal part production has been hampered by this process, leaving industry players seeking a solution. For 3D metal printing to achieve mass adoption, the challenges of low-quality yields and high post-production inspection costs must be resolved. The 3D metal manufacturing quality assurance problem requires a fix that increases yields and deeply cuts post-process inspection costs.
“That’s where . . . Sigma comes in,” the “Barron’s article states. “The small New Mexico-based company sells products to improve quality and validate parts. They are the quality control of the 3-D printing world.”
Sigma has earned this title by creating its exclusive PrintRite3D(R) software, which uniquely provides nondestructive quality assurance during the 3D printing of metal parts. PrintRite3D is the only known additive manufacturing solution that enables in-process quality control of 3D metal printing, allowing errors to be detected and corrected in real time—saving a significant amount of time and money. Due to its reputation and unique ability to remove obstacles impeding the burgeoning industry’s accelerated growth, SGLB has developed a technology that appears to be essential to enabling the3D metal parts industry’s rapid growth.
By providing the quality-assurance solution that the 3D metal printing industry needs to transform mainstream manufacturing, SGLB intends to capitalize on the growth in 3D printing across a wide variety of sectors, especially those requiring exacting specifications like aerospace, automotive and biomedical.
Additionally, Emmelmann isn’t the only one with a rosy outlook on the future of 3D metal printing. According to a report by Grand View Research Inc., the global 3D metal printing market size is expected to reach $3.05 billion by 2025, progressing at a CAGR of 31.8% during the forecast period (http://ibn.fm/aLahT).
The Grand View report noted that “increasing adoption of 3D printing as a mainstream manufacturing method and rising investments in research & development (R&D) of 3D metal printing are anticipated to fuel product demand.” The report also observed that “use of 3D metal printing is prominent in the aerospace and defense industry owing to rapid prototyping and manufacturing speed offered by 3D printing.”
To date, Sigma Labs has engaged 19 beta customers with some of the biggest names in the industry, and two of the programs have already awarded Phase 2 contracts for SGLB’s RTE program. SGLB’s advanced computer-aided software, PrintRite3D, revolutionizes the quality control issues for commercial additive manufacturing, and for the first time enables nondestructive quality assurance mid-production–uniquely allowing errors to be corrected in real time. Sigma Labs is delivering key software to unlock the full potential of 3D metal printing and will likely reap the benefits of the sector’s incredible growth.
For more information about Sigma Labs, please visit www.sigmalabsinc.com.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SGLB are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SGLB
