FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wohlers Report 2001 Reveals Growth Figures
and Forecasts in the RP Industry
FORT COLLINS, COLORADO, May 8, 2001 -- Rapid prototyping (RP) system sales
grew to a record high, according to a new report made available today by
Wohlers Associates, Inc. Twenty-three system manufacturers worldwide sold
1,320 RP systems in 2000, compared to 1,178 in the previous year. "This
represents an increase of 12.1% and a cumulative total of 6,755 machine
installations in 58 countries," said industry consultant, analyst, and
author Terry Wohlers, president of Wohlers Associates, Inc. These systems
produced a staggering 3,004,006 models and prototype parts last year,
according to Wohlers Report 2001.
The report also discusses new technologies and emerging trends. "Focusing
on day-to-day business, I had a perception that RP was slowly progressing
toward the future," said Todd Grimm of Accelerated Technologies, Inc. of
Erlanger, Kentucky and a significant contributor to the new report. After
reading Wohlers Report 2001, that perception has changed. "The information
and data that the report presents clearly shows that there are many
exciting and powerful developments underway," Grimm continued. "Without the
report, I would be conducting business wearing blinders," explained Grimm.
The report discloses that North America continues to dominate the use of
rapid prototyping worldwide. At the end of last year, more than 45% of all
RP machines were installed in this region of the world. Among other regions
of the world, Asia/Pacific has shown strong gains. At the end of 2000,
26.6% of the total worldwide installed base of machines was in operation in
the Asia/Pacific region, compared to 24.6% in Europe, according to
estimates published in Wohlers Report 2001. "Many in the industry believe
that the use of RP in Asia lags that of Europe," said Dr. Ian Gibson of the
University of Hong Kong, another important contributor to the report. "At
one time, this was true, but not any longer," Gibson remarked.
Wohlers will share highlights of the new report at the Rapid Prototyping &
Manufacturing 2001 Conference & Exposition held in Cincinnati, Ohio, May
14-17, 2001. The presentation will provide growth figures and other
developments and trends to a large international audience of users,
producers, and researchers of RP technology. The conference will mark the
ninth year that Wohlers will have delivered the State of the Industry
address at the popular event. RP&M 2001, sponsored by the Rapid Prototyping
Association of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (RPA/SME), is the
world's largest and most established conference dedicated to rapid
prototyping. In 1993, Wohlers led a group of 14 individuals from industry
and academia to form RPA/SME, paving the way to the annual conference and
exposition.
Wohlers Report 2001 is a 250-page report developed with input from 53
industry experts, 43 service providers, 23 machine manufacturers, and
countless others worldwide. It includes 26 charts and graphs, 32 tables,
and 80 photographs and illustrations. This annual report has established a
tradition of offering analyses that cover all facets of rapid prototyping,
including business, product, market, technology, and applications. The
report's table of contents, as well as additional information on the RP
market and industry, are available at http://wohlersassociates.com.
Wohlers Associates, Inc. is a 15-year old independent consulting firm that
works closely with manufacturing organizations to identify the best
approaches to rapid product development. As the company's principal
consultant, Terry Wohlers tracks new methods and technologies and
determines a strategic direction that gives companies an edge. His highly
sought after views and opinions come from years of collecting and analyzing
market data, coupled with work as an advisor to major organizations in the
Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.
The following 53 individuals and organizations contributed to Wohlers
Report 2001 and served as important sources for information.
Shreyas Bakshi, Protosys Technologies Private Ltd. (India)
Umberto Baraldi, CRIF (Belgium)
Joseph Beaman, University of Texas at Austin
Alain Bernard, University of Nancy I (France)
Mike Braig, A.G. Edwards & Sons
David Bourell, University of Texas at Austin
William Broun, A.G. Edwards & Sons
Tim Caffrey, Caffrey Consulting
Ian Campbell, Loughborough University (England)
Andy Christensen, Medical Modeling LLC
Stuart Clyens, Danish Technological Institute
Amba Datt Bhatt, Motilal Nehru Regional Engineering College Allahabad
(India)
Deon de Beer, Technikon Free State (South Africa)
Philip Dickens, De Montfort University (England)
Thierry Dormal, CRIF (Belgium)
Willie du Preez, CSIR (South Africa)
Frits Feenstra, TNO Institute of Industrial Technology (The Netherlands)
Boris Fritz, Northrop Grumman Corp.
Jerry Fu, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Vito Gervasi, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Ian Gibson, University of Hong Kong (China)
Tim Gornet, University of Louisville
Tom Greaves, New Directions Consulting
Joe Greco, Greco Consulting
Ed Grenda, Castle Island Company
Todd Grimm, Accelerated Technologies, Inc.
Russ Harris, De Montfort University (England)
Berndt Holmer, IVF Industrial Research and Development Corp. (Sweden)
Masato Imamura, Tokyo Research Center (Japan)
Haeseong Jee, Hong-Ik University (Korea)
Jeng-Ywan Jeng, National Taiwan University of Science and Tech. (Taiwan)
Luca Iuliano, Politecnico di Torino (Italy)
Chua Chee Kai, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
Tahar Laoui, University of Leuven (Belgium)
Debbie Leeson, Vantico (South Africa)
Scott Loose, Queensland Manufacturing Institute (Australia)
Weiyin Ma, Hong Kong City University (China)
Bent Mieritz, Danish Technological Institute (Denmark)
Nele Motmans, Materialise (Belgium)
Tom Mueller, Infinite Group
Andy Norwood, De Montfort University (England)
Bruce Okkema, Eagle Design and Technology
David Prawel, Janet Inc.
Anshuman Razdan, Arizona State University
Geoff Smith-Moritz, CAD/CAM Publishing
Rupert Soar, De Monfort University (England)
Dave Tait, LFX Technologies
Jukka Tuomi, Helsinki University of Technology (Finland)
Kai Uwe Koch, FhG Institute for Mfg Eng and Automation (Germany)
Pamela Waterman, EngineeringInk
David Wimpenny, University of Warwick (England)
Millan Yeung, National Research Council of Canada (Canada)
Shi Yusheng, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (China)
NOTE: An enhanced version of this press release, complete with charts, is
available at http://wohlersassociates.com.
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