Organisation:

National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC), Maritime Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), Singapore Shipping Association (SSA)

Resource Link:

Published in 2022, Link

My Key Takeaways

Singapore’s maritime sector is becoming a hotbed for future of production technologies like additive manufacturing (AM).

Here’s some takeaways from the latest report by Singapore’s National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and Singapore Shipping Association, on the city state’s (SG) AM landscape:

Additive Manufacturing Opportunities in the Maritime Sector

1) AM / 3D printing is a technology that builds solid objects from 3D software designs, layer upon layer. AM is maturing as an production technology – 2020 revenue was at US$12.8 billion, with year-on-year growth of 7.5% (Wohlers).

2) Maritime contributes 80% of world trade, and has faced profound supply chain disruptions in recent years (e.g. COVID-19, UK-China tensions, Ukraine war).

3) Page 6 shares a list of AM opportunities in the maritime sector (e.g. redesigning parts with improved functionality, digital inventory for shorter lead time, on-demand printing, part obsolescence).

Singapore’s Maritime Ecosystem Enables AM Development

Singapore was ranked the top maritime city in 2022, and top in the maritime technology pillar [DNV, Menon Economics].

Connected to over 600 ports and 123 countries, the Port of Singapore is the world’s second busiest port in 2021 (37.5 mTEUs of containers, ship arrival tonnage exceeded 2.8B gross tonnes).

Singapore’s AM Landscape

1) Manufacturing contributes 20% to Singapore’s economy, and helps explain why the hub alone holds 40% of Southeast Asia’s (SEA) AM market (thyssenkrup).

2) Singapore’s national AM agency NAMIC continues to raise AM funding from public and private sectors, and has curated more than 240 industry projects.

3) NAMIC’s portfolio has more than 170 companies across the AM value chain (over 80 are startups, ~ 50 are SMEs, more than 40 are Large Local Enterprises/ Multinational Corporates)

4) 30% of NAMIC’s global AM companies (e.g. thyssenkrupp, MolyWorks, EOS, DMG MORI, nTopology, and Hyperganic Group) have chosen to set up their operations in Singapore.

5) Pg 7 shares a snapshot of AM adopters and suppliers in Singapore’s maritime ecosystem (e.g. ship owners, service bureaus, testing & certification, research centres, Page 7)

6) Detailed AM parts case studies (e.g. turbocharger nozzle rings, valves, pipe connectors) in pages 8-10 and the global companies adopting them in Singapore (e.g. Lloyd’s Register, Wilhelmsen group, thyssenkrupp, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), 3D Metalforge, Bureau Veritas Group).

➡️ AM companies’ business development teams can use insights from 5 and 6 to shape their market entry strategies for Singapore and Southeast Asia.

CTOs keen on AM partnerships can refer to the Joint Industry Programmes (JIP) for a good sense of past/future AM innovation roadmaps for SEA

Examples of priority topics include material development, part qualification, printability analysis, certification workflow and application reliability (pages 7, 12).

JIPs bring together diverse stakeholders to accelerate AM tech development and adoption.

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Hope these insights on AM lead demand types and sources will help your company to find your first AM co-innovation partner in SG and SEA!

🖨️🏭🇸🇬🚀

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About Zhilin SIM

Having worked and lived in Singapore, the Nordics, China, Spain, UK, I’m now based in Paris.

I’m fluent in English, French and Mandarin, and I’m learning Arabic because it’s a beautiful and fascinating language.

My team creates and supports one-many initiatives connecting corporate and startup ecosystems in Europe to business and innovation opportunities in Singapore and Southeast Asia.

I’m passionate about horticulture, watercolour, startups/tech as well as French cuisine, Peranakan kueh techniques and other global cuisines.

Feel free to connect with me if you think my network in Europe and Asia could be of benefit to your business and innovation activities.