The industrial Additive Manufacturing (AM) market, including both metal and polymer systems, materials, and part manufacturing services, was assessed to be worth EUR 9.53 billion in the year 2022. As per projections, the AM market is expected to witness a robust compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% from 2022 to 2027. With this anticipated growth, the overall market value is predicted to reach more than EUR 21 billion in sales by the end of 2027. Notably, the medical industry is the primary customer with a turnover of EUR 380 million in 2022. The automotive sector is also expected to remain a key player in the market [1]

The automotive industry is experiencing a rapid shift towards electric and smart mobility, necessitating faster development processes, increased efficiency, and enhanced performance. However, alongside technical considerations, there are significant challenges posed by environmental concerns and lengthy supply chains. In response, AM emerges as a promising solution, leveraging its inherent advantages, such as tool-free manufacturing, accelerated lead times, streamlined digital inventory management, optimization of performance-to-weight ratios, and the ability to enable mass customization [2, 3, 4, 5].

Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) is widely employed as the primary metal AM method in the automotive industry. Its strengths lie in the production of geometrically flexible and near-net shape components, successfully catering to various automotive use-cases, particularly high-performance applications in premium cars and custom tool manufacturing for further production technologies [6, 7]. However, despite its benefits, the widespread adoption of LPBF is constrained by its high costs [8]. As a promising alternative, Metal Binder Jetting (MBJ) has recently gained significant attention in the sector due to its faster build rates and potential for small to medium mass production manufacturing [9].

Despite the continuous advancements in metal AM processes, the automotive industry has not fully embraced it as a robust and cost-effective manufacturing technology. The sector's emphasis on high standardization, repeatability, and safety has hindered the widespread adoption of metal AM. To establish metal AM in the automotive sector, several critical actions need to be taken to address challenges related to part quality, process reproducibility and costs, as well as environmental impacts. The paper discusses the current obstacles and essential areas for improvement in MBJ and LPBF. Key focus areas include material costs, machine reliability and reproducibility, process automation and digitalization, optimizing build volumes and speed, as well as employing innovative think-additive methodologies. Successfully addressing these challenges is imperative to enhance the technological readiness level of metal AM and unlock its potential in the automotive industry [3, 4, 8, 9].

References
[1] AMPOWER GmbH, "AMPOWER REPORT 2023 Additive Manufacturing Market Report," 2023.
[2] A. Charles, A. Hofer, A. Elkaseer and S. G. Scholz, "Additive Manufacturing in the Automotive Industry and the Potential for Driving the Green and Electric Transition," in Sustainable Design and Manufacturing, Springer Singapore, 2022.
[3] S. Basak , M. Baumers, M. Holweg , R. Hague and C. Tuck , "Reducing production losses in additive manufacturing using overall equipment effectiveness.," Additive Manufacturing, vol. 56, p. 102904, 2022.
[4] A. Menekse, A. V. Ertemel and H. C. Akdag, "Additive manufacturing process selection for automotive industry using Pythagorean fuzzy CRITIC EDA," Plos one, vol. 18(3), 2023.
[5] Markforged, "How 3D Printing Drives Change in the Automotive Industry," [Online]. Available: https://markforged.com/de/resources/blog/how-3d-printing-drives-change-in-the-automotive-industry. [Accessed 12 July 2023].
[6] AMFG, "10 Exciting Examples of 3D Printing in the Automotive Industry in 2021," 28 May 2019. [Online]. Available: https://amfg.ai/2019/05/28/7-exciting-examples-of-3d-printing-in-the-automotive-industry/. [Accessed 12 July 2023].
[7] S. Hendrixson, "Real Examples of 3D Printing in the Automotive Industry," 18 May 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.ptonline.com/articles/real-examples-of-3d-printing-in-the-automotive-industry. [Accessed 12 07 2023].
[8] J. C. Vasco, "Chapter 16 - Additive manufacturing for the automotive industry," in In Handbooks in Advanced Manufacturing, Elsevier, 2021, pp. 505-530.
[9] M. Freeman, "Overcoming Cost Barriers of Metal-Binder-Jet Additive-Manufacturing for Automotive Product Applications," 2022.