From Additive Manufacturing to 3D/4D Printing 1

With a turnover of some € 5-15 billion / year, additive manufacturing has industrial niche carriers with more optimized processes and materials. If certain niches still exist on the application of additive techniques in conventional fields (from jewelery to the food business for example), several trends emerge, using new concepts: collective production, realization of objects at once (without addition of material), microfluidics, 4D printing using programmable materials, bio-printing, etc. There are at the same time potential new markets, promises that were not consideed less than10 years ago, but difficulties to achieve them.