How Did COVID-19 Impact Supply Chains in 2020 and Why Additive Manufacturing is the Future?
Introduction
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic uncovered that traditional supply chains were not as strong as we once thought. Nations, organizations, and groups needed to rapidly manage the effect of inventory network disruption, deal with a dispersed labor force, and relieve pressures from the biggest worldwide pandemic during our lifetime. These factors — regularly changing week after week or even day by day — compound the difficulties confronting organizations.
The Question
Did COVID-19 drastically stop all production, or were these companies able to maintain business continuity? And, if businesses were able to adapt and pivot, what were the critical technologies and strategies that enabled such resilience?
To answers these questions, our partner, Markforged closely examined how organizations that adopt additive manufacturing technology are adapting during the COVID-19 pandemic. They recently launched a survey report titled, “COVID-19 Impact on Supply Chains: Global Additive Manufacturing Industry Report.” Download Report
This report is a compilation of data Markforged collected after surveying their worldwide customers and non-customers, to better understand how manufacturers have been impacted due to the pandemic. It also provides insights from modern manufacturers surveyed across various global industries.
Findings of the Survey
The study reveals how early adopters of innovative cloud-based additive manufacturing technology, such as the Digital Forge from Markforged, are tapping into:
- Faster lead times
- Lower program costs
- Empowered printing of critical parts at the time, place, and manner needed
When you partner with additive manufacturing technology and engineering solution companies such as Markforged and Saratech, you have access to providers with global experience and expertise. It can help your business better position itself for resiliency and agility in the future.
- 6% respondents indicated that additive manufacturing has saved the business “some time” during the pandemic.
- 73% of Markforged customers surveyed indicated that there were no changes and they have continued to use 3D printing for the purposes previously used.
- 39% of non-Markforged customers answered, “We have scaled back producing our typical products.”
Saratech is focused on helping manufacturing and digital manufacturing companies solve product development problems. Connect with us for additional information to become resilient during COVID-19.
About Markforged
Markforged transforms manufacturing with 3D metal and carbon fiber printers, capable of producing parts tough enough for the factory floor. Engineers, designers, and manufacturing professionals all over the world rely on Markforged metal and composite printers for tooling, fixtures, functional prototyping, and high-value end-use production. Founded in 2013 and based in Watertown, Massachusetts, Markforged has about 300 employees globally, with $137 million in both strategic and venture capital. Markforged was recently recognized by Forbes in the Next Billion-Dollar Startups list and listed as the #2.