Introduction
Alison Wyrick-Mendoza, a marketing and strategy consultant at Wohlers Associates (powered by ASTM International), explores the structural gaps that prevent ambitious projects from succeeding. Here, she interviews colleague Dr. Mahdi Jamshid, Director of Market Intelligence, about why the additive manufacturing industry needs to evolve beyond traditional annual reports.
Q&A: Why Live Market Intelligence Matters
Alison: Why does our industry still rely on outdated annual reports for three-year strategies?
Mahdi: While "annual" historically meant "accurate," organizations today face what I call the Methodology Black Box problem. Without visibility into how market figures are calculated, you're not making a data-driven decision—you're making a faith-based one. Decision-makers deserve to understand the inputs, assumptions, and limitations behind the numbers they're betting on.
Alison: What's the biggest change affecting growth planning?
Mahdi: The landscape has become fundamentally more blurred. Historical category distinctions—like Industrial versus Desktop—are dissolving. A sub-$1,000 printer can now achieve quality that rivals industrial systems for certain applications. The old definitions we use to track the market are becoming obsolete, and clinging to them creates blind spots.
Alison: How does the "Silo Tax" affect investment decisions?
Mahdi: Technical teams and financial decision-makers typically operate in separate worlds. Engineers track technology readiness; finance tracks market size. When these views aren't integrated into actual financial decision-making, you aren't just investing—you're hoping. The Silo Tax is the hidden cost of misalignment between what your technical teams know and what your investment committees believe.
Breaking the Cycle
Transformation stalls when financial and technical teams use different data sources to answer the same questions. The path forward requires shifting focus from "what" we know to "how" we know it. Transparency in methodology isn't just academic—it's foundational to calculated risk-taking.
The Solution: Continuous Intelligence
ASTM's market intelligence platform provides:
- Transparent methodology: See exactly how market figures are derived
- Continuous updates: Move beyond annual snapshots to live market views
- Unified data: Align technical and financial teams on a single source of truth
When strategy, investment, and execution operate from the same playbook, organizations can move from hoping to knowing.
For more information about the Wohlers Associates market intelligence platform, contact wa@wohlersassociates.com.
