At Additive Manufacturing Methods (AMS) 2026, which simply wrapped up in New York Metropolis yesterday, AM I Navigator and the Main Minds consortium introduced a brand new alliance aimed toward accelerating the economic adoption of additive manufacturing. The information was formally unveiled on February 26 in the course of the occasion, marking one of many key strategic bulletins popping out of this 12 months’s present.
The 2 additive manufacturing teams have “joined forces,” as Materialise CEO Brigitte de Vet-Veithen put it in the course of the stay announcement, underneath a newly shaped umbrella group referred to as the Additive Manufacturing Alliance. The aim is to make additive manufacturing (AM) simpler to know, simpler to implement, and extra broadly utilized in industrial manufacturing. de Vet-Veithen was joined onstage by Karsten Heuser, VP Additive Manufacturing for Siemens, for the thrilling announcement. The businesses are companions in each initiatives.
Materialise CEO Brigitte de Vet-Veithen and Karsten Heuser, VP Additive Manufacturing, Siemens, onstage at AMS 2026
A New Alliance Targeted on Industrial Adoption
The brand new Additive Manufacturing Alliance brings collectively two established efforts that already work towards related targets however from completely different angles.
Fairly than merging into one entity, Main Minds and AM I Navigator will proceed working independently the place applicable. Nevertheless, they may now collaborate on chosen actions, significantly round data sharing, communication, and serving to producers transfer from early experimentation to scaled manufacturing.
“Our shared aim is to make additive manufacturing extra accessible, much less complicated, and extra built-in into on a regular basis industrial manufacturing. Collectively, we may also help extra corporations throughout a greater variety of industries profit from the flexibleness, effectivity, and innovation that AM permits,” mentioned de Vet-Veithen, CEO of Materialise, talking on behalf of the newly shaped Alliance.
What this implies is the Alliance goals to attach consciousness with execution. Main Minds focuses on constructing understanding and lowering confusion round AM, whereas AM I Navigator supplies structured instruments and steerage to assist corporations industrialize and scale their additive manufacturing operations. Collectively, they search to assist corporations transfer from inspiration to implementation.
How AM I Navigator Helps Firms Scale AM
The AM I Navigator is a structured software that helps corporations assess and enhance their additive manufacturing maturity. It was first launched at Formnext 2023 by Siemens, DyeMansion, HP, BASF Ahead AM, and EOS. Since then, it has grown right into a broader ecosystem that features companions similar to Materialise, AMTPro, AZO, and data companions, together with Capgemini and BCG.
At its core, the AM I Navigator supplies a structured manner for corporations to judge and enhance their use of additive manufacturing. It features a five-stage mannequin that helps organizations perceive how superior they’re, steerage throughout key areas similar to technique, design, manufacturing, high quality, and group, and sensible insights drawn from actual industrial use circumstances. Firms may also entry on-line self-assessment instruments to measure their progress and determine subsequent steps.
Firms use the framework to benchmark their present capabilities and develop roadmaps towards greater ranges of automation, high quality, and financial efficiency. The aim is to assist organizations transfer past pilot tasks and into repeatable, scalable manufacturing.
Based on Heuser, “By way of the newly launched AM I Navigator web site, corporations worldwide can independently and freed from cost assess their additive manufacturing maturity and discover transformational insights derived from confirmed industrial purposes. The evaluation instruments are voluntary sources designed to assist corporations of all sizes, from startups to world producers, benchmark their capabilities and determine enchancment alternatives.”
The maturity mannequin and associated instruments are accessible at: https://am-i-navigator.com/.
One other announcement tied to the Alliance is the addition of Wohlers Associates, powered by ASTM Worldwide, as a Data Companion throughout the AM I Navigator community. Wohlers Associates brings expertise in requirements, certification, and serving to corporations put together additive manufacturing for demanding industries similar to aerospace, protection, and medical.
Mohsen Seifi, Vice President of International Superior Manufacturing Packages at ASTM Worldwide, said that, “By becoming a member of the AM I Navigator, we purpose to contribute our expertise in translating additive manufacturing requirements into strong industrial apply. Along with the companion community, we need to assist producers speed up the transition from experimentation to certified, scalable manufacturing.”
Main Minds: Simplifying Industrial AM
The second initiative behind the brand new Alliance, Main Minds, was first introduced at Formnext 2024 as a consortium of eight founding corporations: Ansys, EOS, HP, Materialise, Nikon SLM Options, Renishaw, Stratasys, and ATLIX (previously Trumpf Additive Manufacturing).
The consortium has two major aims: to extend consciousness of additive manufacturing throughout industries and scale back the boundaries corporations face when adopting and scaling AM.
Certainly one of its first main initiatives addresses a long-standing problem within the business: inconsistent terminology. Totally different corporations typically describe related processes utilizing completely different language, which may create confusion and gradual adoption.
Main Minds is creating an open, widespread language framework for additive manufacturing. The framework is designed to standardize communication throughout the manufacturing course of, making discussions with prospects clearer and extra actionable. The group says the framework has already been expanded to cowl the complete AM manufacturing chain and is actively getting used with prospects.
Along with terminology work, Main Minds continues to take part in main industrial occasions in North America and Europe, focusing on sectors the place AM adoption stays early however promising.
A New Member Joins Main Minds
The consortium additionally introduced that the Manufacturing Know-how Deployment Group (MTDG) has joined as its latest member. MTDG, together with its subsidiary, the Nationwide Middle for Protection Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM) and its America Makes program, focuses on serving to producers deploy superior manufacturing applied sciences and supporting instructional establishments in embracing these applied sciences.
Dean L. Bartles, President and CEO of MTDG, will symbolize the group inside Main Minds. “MTDG is honored to affix the Main Minds consortium at such a pivotal second for our business,” famous Bartles. “By means of the mixed strengths of MTDG, NCDMM, and America Makes, we stay deeply dedicated to advancing the industrialization of additive manufacturing and increasing its influence throughout the manufacturing ecosystem.”
L-R: Karsten Heuser, VP Additive Manufacturing, Siemens; Mohsen Seifi, VP International Superior Manufacturing Packages, ASTM Worldwide, Dean Bartles, CEO and President of MTDG; and Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, Materialise CEO
The announcement at AMS 2026 highlights a broader effort throughout the additive manufacturing business to maneuver past small pilot tasks and towards larger-scale manufacturing. By means of the brand new Alliance, Main Minds and AM I Navigator purpose to help that shift with clearer communication, shared requirements, and sensible instruments.
Photos courtesy of Sarah Saunders for 3DPrint.com
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