The history of 3D printing is not a particularly lengthy one, but it has

been highly transformative in a wide range of industries. Over the course

of four years, 3D printing utilization has skyrocketed at companies with
annual revenue of more than $500 million. Jabil’s 2021 survey of 300+
3D printing decision-makers clearly demonstrates the upward trajectory
of the popularity and applications of additive manufacturing.

HOW MANUFACTURERS
USE 3D PRINTING

3D Printing is common and use cases are expanding rapidly.

Research and development has passed prototyping as the most common use case.

2017 2019 2021

RESEARCH & – 53% 73%

DEVELOPMENT

PROTOTYPING 69% 66% 72%

JIGS, FIXTURES & 30% 37% 57%

TOOLING

BRIDGE PRODUCTION
(moving from prototyping
23% 39% 56%
to initial production)

PRODUCTION PARTS 27% 52% 62%

REPAIR 14% 38% 46%

NEARLY 1/2
companies already use 3D printing
to produce at least 25% of their
functional or end-use parts.

3 BIGGEST
ISSUES
preventing companies from utilizing
3D printing in production today:

Cost of pre- and Limited selection Technology

post-processing of materials limitations

Expectations for growth remain high.

3D Printing is common and use cases are expanding rapidly.

How do you expect your company’s use of 3D printing to change in the coming 2-5 years?

2017 2019 2021

INCREASE 23% 39% 39%

DRAMATICALLY
(5 times or more)

INCREASE 42% 47% 48%

SIGNIFICANTLY
(2 times or more)

INCREASE 32% 10% 10%

SOMEWHAT
(more, but not double)

NO CHANGE 3% 4% 3%

94 PERCENT
of respondents from the electronics
industry expect their 3D printing use
to significantly increase.

MORE
THAN HALF
of top leadership views
3D printing as strategic.

66 PERCENT
say 3D printing is faster than
conventional manufacturing
methods.

How does your company

conduct 3D printing today?

73% 44% 44% 39%

IN-HOUSE SERVICE CONTRACT ADDITIVE
BUREAU MANUFACTURER NETWORK
(e.g., ProtoLabs) (e.g., Jabil) (e.g., Fictiv)

50
PERCENT
report outsourcing will be a
significant part of their future
3D printing plans.

SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS

Company Size – Annual Revenue

48% 35% 17%

$500M - $1B $1B - $5B More than $5B

Types of Goods Manufactured

Electronics

Plastics & packaging

Industrial machines
(printers, white goods, etc.)

Heavy equipment

Automotive

Healthcare

Footwear

Orthopedics

Aerospace or defense

Transportation

0 10 20 30 40 50

Job Level Job Function

5% 4%
5%
6%
32%

37%
26%
58%

27%

Executive Operations Research &

development
Team Design or
Manager engineering Procurement

Individual Production or Product

Contributor manufacturing development

© Jabil. 2021. All Rights Reserved.

www.jabil.com/blog