2026-2028 is stacking up

The additive manufacturing (AM) industry has largely solved its core technical challenges, but over the next two years its success will hinge on structural forces rather than hardware advances.This article I will list below (SIX FAULT LINES THAT WILL RESHAPE ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING, 2026–2028) outlines the next 2 years and all the factors that are continuing to evolve as the additive market continues to grow. Michael Pitch has an accurate depiction in the factors that are about to define this market and how this will play out in the coming years. Six converging pressures are reshaping the market: expanding sovereignty rules that treat AM as an integrated hardware–software stack and act as de facto platform barriers; a shift from part-level to system- or “cell”-level qualification that favors operators with deep certification infrastructure; growing concentration of power in software and digital thread platforms; accelerating consolidation marked by distressed acquisitions and write-downs; the emergence of a two-speed market in which regulated sectors like aerospace, defense, and medical grow while general industrial and prototyping stagnate; and the rise of training and institutional adoption services as revenue-generating product lines. Together, these forces are bifurcating the market between well-capitalized, strategically focused operators with recurring revenue and certification depth, and those relying on broad, undifferentiated portfolios and capital-intensive growth assumptions that are becoming harder to sustain. None of these factors are new but the convergence of all these factors is proof that additive manufacturing is about to have an impact on Industry 4.0. Check it out https://3dprintingindustry.com/news/six-fault-lines-that-will-reshape-additive-manufacturing-2026-2028-249230/