Market for Bound Metal Additive Manufacturing 2022

In 2022, the bound metal additive manufacturing market is evolving at a pace faster than any other technical segment, even exceeding that of the incumbent and more widely adopted metal powder bed fusion sector. The underlying reasons for the increasing activity in this sector tie back to the possibilities for sinter-based metal additive processes to unlock the power of metal additive manufacturing for new industry, conjuring visions of mass manufacturing on a global scale using digital means.

Though development and competitive activities are mounting, the reality is that the bound metal market is still barely more than an afterthought in the scope of global manufacturing, and even within the context of the ~$3.4B metal additive market the collective bound metal technologies represent a very small share. Despite this, due to the processing element which involves post-print sintering -a common element shared by other multi-billion dollar generating metal manufacturing processes -bound metal additive manufacturing has a relatively clear path to rapid expansion and acceptance. If the trajectory and acceptance of metal injection molding (MIM) is any indication, rapid growth is achievable. Many of the leaders in this sector already serve as the logical initial customer base. Processes like metal binder jetting are amongst the oldest additive processes in existence, and the MIM community is just beginning to take AM under its wing as a complimentary process to their existing capabilities in sintering green metal components.

Still others in bound metal space have even larger aspirations for developing these processes, which will target the traditional casting industry head on rather than connecting to the relatively less mature (and much smaller) metal injection molding market.

This report is the first full featured market study specific to bound metal additive manufacturing processes, defined as the combination of metal binder jetting and bound metal extrusion processes from SmarTech Analysis. These two wholly different, but inherently linked processes (due to the requirement for final stage sintering of a green bound metal part using powdered metal), represent an exciting potential future for metal additive manufacturing. This study includes extensive market analysis of the current innovators, strategic considerations, and leading applications and adopters, as well as broad database of market forecast data.