In the increasingly fierce global competition, countries all over the world are constantly striving for their leading position in the world through investment and research and development in emerging high-tech fields. As a representative and revolutionary new technology, 3D printing is naturally highly valued by countries all over the world. So what are the latest actions and strategies they have taken? Let us find out today!

United States

In 2013, US President Barack Obama emphasized the importance of 3D printing technology in his State of the Union speech and hoped to promote the development of the US 3D printing industry. Subsequently, the US government established the "Americamakes" Alliance in Youngstown, Ohio (formerly known as the National Institute of Additive Manufacturing Innovation, to promote 3D printing technology through conferences, training, project collection, etc., with members of universities, research institutions, and public organizations. Institutions and private companies, etc. The alliance received $89 million in funding, of which $50 million came from public investment. So far, the alliance has successfully trained 7,000 professional technicians in the field of 3D printing and produced autonomous Patented additive manufacturing products.

In addition, the United States has recently begun the full application of 3D printing technology in various major industries. In the military industry, the US military continues to hold various 3D printing technology training activities, and is also researching new 3D printing applications to optimize the operational equipment of the active military. It is also equipped with powerful performance on naval warships. 3D printing equipment for the occasional need.

In the manufacturing sector, 71.1% of US manufacturers are using 3D printing technology in some form, which is slightly higher than in 2014 (67%). Even more noteworthy is the fact that in the past two years, manufacturers have seen significant changes in the way they use 3D printing technology. In particular, a higher percentage of manufacturers (51%) applied the technology to prototype and component manufacturing, which was only 35% in 2014. The number of companies that "try" 3D printing technology has dropped from 28.9% in 2014 to 13.2% in 2015. For example, the US industrial giant GE often uses 3D printing technology to design and print a variety of very large parts, and has achieved great success.

The United States is also at the forefront of the world in the development of relevant laws and regulations for 3D printing. For example, on May 11, 2016, President Obama signed the Act1, which gives parties the right to sue in federal court for theft of trade secrets such as 3D printing. And the laws in the medical field are quite strict: in the United States, 3D printed medical devices must be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before they can be sold. At present, the evaluation process for 3D printing equipment is very cumbersome and time consuming because there is no specific inspection standard for this new technology. The US Food and Drug Administration is writing regulations for 3D printing equipment and published a draft of a technical review of additive manufacturing equipment in May.

Germany

At present, Germany is also in a leading position in the field of 3D printing, which is beneficial to the promotion of this technology by the German 3D Printing Alliance. The Fraunhofer Additive Manufacturing Alliance is one of Germany's more prestigious 3D printing consortiums. It consists of 10 well-known research institutes. The alliance does not provide suitable solutions for companies entering the 3D printing industry. It is also equipped with tens of millions of euros. Funds are used for basic research. In addition, the research results obtained by the Alliance in large-scale PPP projects (public-private partnership model) are available to all member companies.

In addition, Germany has done a good job in the popularity of 3D printing technology. For example, German folks have a large number of 3D printing technology application associations, which help many disabled people to make prosthetic structures; German college racing cars use full 3D printing racing cars for competitive competitions. And Dresden, Germany, recently announced that it will develop the 3D printing industry on a large scale, and strive to make Dresden the European 3D printing capital.

United Kingdom

The UK has long introduced a policy to promote the development of 3D printing and additive manufacturing. In 2007, the UK government plans to invest £95 million in public and private funds between 2007 and 2016, driven by the UK Technology Strategy Board. For 3D printing collaborative R&D projects, the vast majority of projects are purely R&D projects (only £25 million for results conversion). In 2013, the British government added 3D printed content to junior high school and high school teaching courses. In addition, universities in the UK (Birmingham University, Loughborough University and Nottingham University) have conducted in-depth research in the field of 3D printing and have received funding support from many EU R&D projects, which has also contributed to the development of the UK 3D printing industry.

The UK has widely used 3D printing technology in many fields, and it is famous for its 3D printing navigation drones. In addition, the UK is also vigorously developing 3D printing to be fully applied to educational institutions and other fields to open the door to 3D printing. It is reported that from 2012 to 2015, the public spending on the manufacturing of imported materials in the UK increased by 100%. In 2014 alone, the British government spent directly on the field of additive manufacturing by donations, bonuses or other means. 30 million pounds. By 2015, £25 million had been determined to be allocated to the project by the end of February, and there will be more in the future. So the trend is clear, the UK's public spending in the field of 3D printing is almost exponentially rising.

EU

During the period 2007-2013, the EU's Seventh Framework Programme supported 60 joint research projects on 3D printing with a total investment of 160 million euros (including private investment, totaling 225 million euros). Under the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 Project (2014-2020), some new 3D printing research projects will continue to be supported, and some 3D printing projects for commercial applications will also be included in the plan. In addition, the European Union will set up a European 3D printing technology platform to share information, provide technical and economic solutions or guidance for companies in the 3D printing industry, and the EU will also support the construction of some 3D printing results conversion centers.

Russia

As a big country, Russia's research and development in the field of 3D printing is not falling behind. It is reported that Russia is also widely used 3D printing technology, such as aircraft 3D printing components, space satellites, military helicopters, drones and nuclear energy and other fields have made no small breakthrough.

In the field of nuclear energy, Russia's national atomic energy company Rosatom plans to use advanced 3D printing technology as part of its non-core business strategy. According to the company's plan, its latest 3D printing business will be used first in its nuclear power field and then extended to other businesses. The department, and this 3D printing business will use innovative metal powder materials and industrial grade 3D printers developed by itself. In the field of 3D printing drones, a full 3D printed drone was built by the Russian state-owned company, Union Instruments Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC), which can be used for inspection and reconnaissance and can be used in one day. 3D printing and assembly is complete. In the field of space 3D printing, the Russian R&D team is developing 3D printers that can be used on the International Space Station (ISS). The difference between this device and NASA's space 3D printer is that the printer can use composite materials: not just plastics, but also continuous reinforcement of carbon fiber materials. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic 3D can be printed into satellite components directly through the equipment in space orbit. In the field of cutting-edge 3D printing, the joint venture of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), the United Rocket Aerospace Corporation (URSC), announced that it has signed an agreement with the country's 3D Bioprinting Solutions to develop a solution that can be zero. The magnetic 3D bioprinter running in a gravity environment, according to the plan, will be sent to the International Space Station in 2018.

Korea

According to the latest government policy, companies involved in robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing and other high-tech fields will be eligible for additional tax breaks in Korea. On July 28, 2016, the South Korean government announced that it will implement several new tax measures with the goal of creating several “new economic growth engines”. According to the Korean government's strategy, they will reduce the tax on SMEs by up to 30%.

The government also said that these new tax measures were enacted to ensure tax breaks for companies that invest in new facilities, raise employee salaries, or pay dividends to shareholders. It can be seen that South Korea has also begun to invest in high-tech fields such as 3D printing.

Other countries

The Sirris Industrial Technology Institute in Belgium has established a 3D printing technology platform and a results transformation center. Many companies have received support from these centers, including more famous companies such as Materialize and Layerwise. In addition, the Netherlands and Italy have invested tens of millions of euros in 3D printing plants. The Australian government is also actively supporting the research of some universities in the field of 3D printing.

(Editor)