I thought that I stated that I was looking out over the next 2 to 5 years, not within the next 2 years. I included several variables which could be achieved relatively soon or could take longer - such as a completed agreement of standards through NIST, FAA, America Makes or GE qualifying parts it produces. GE has stated it fully plans on production of nozzles in roughly a year and a quarter. Who knows how many more pieces or parts or things GE will begin to manufacture through AM. Recall the motor bracket challenge where the design selected cut the weight of the bracket by about 80%. From a 2+kilo part to just over half a kilo. The cost savings in fuel over the life of the aircraft will be significant. How many other applications will be developed? what is that value to the purchaser/user of the airplane? The competitive advantages for companies that embrace AM fully as opposed to those who manufacture with traditional methods and have a heavier airplane could be quite dramatic. The number of applications is likely to increase exponentially beyond fuel nozzles, turbine blades or engine brackets. The rate at which the increase occurs may also become even more accelerated as the technology matures. I can not find a single article from two years ago that seems to predict the state of the art today in 3D metal printing/application. They all seem to make far more modest predictions than the current reality. Have all these future thinkers become that much more accurate in their ability to imagine developments and applications two years forward?
There are going to be many steps in the process leading to greater adoption of 3D printing, just as there have been a lot of steps to get to the point where we are at today. Given the limited commercial applications in the past there has not been the opportunity to develop the financial benchmarks that are used by investors, thus the past in terms of financial predictors is less clear than is the past in terms of technology and product development prediction for 3D printing. I certainly am not signing any contracts to purchase things in the future based upon some price per share of Sigma Labs at that future date.
If it all develops, then the limited amount that I keep regularly putting into Sigma Labs will become mind boggling. If it does not develop as hoped, then Sigma Labs may not contribute a whole heck of a lot to my other assets. I am not betting what I will need for "lunch money" now or in the future, nor is Sigma the one and only. We all make our own decisions based upon our own beliefs. If my beliefs on this one work out, it will not matter a lot if the others do not work out or work out to a far lesser degree.
Time will tell about the velocity of development and acceptance of this technology into areas and applications that are not even being discussed or imagined today.
GLTA
