Remember “Leading Minds”, the consortium created in 2024 by eight founding members (Ansys, EOS, HP, Materialise, Nikon SLM, Renishaw, Stratasys, and ATLIX (formerly Trumpf Additive Manufacturing)) to establish a common language that will foster the adoption of AM? Well, the consortium joins forces with another initiative, AM I Navigator, to advance the industrial adoption of AM.
Launched at Formnext 2023 by Siemens, DyeMansion, HP, BASF Forward AM, and EOS, the AM I Navigator provides companies with a proven framework for industrializing additive manufacturing and scaling it into serial production environments integrated with other manufacturing technologies.
By joining forces, the two initiatives will become the Additive Manufacturing Alliance.
Launched at AMS 2026, initial joint activities of the Additive Manufacturing Alliance will focus on knowledge exchange, joint industry communication, and supporting companies along their path toward industrializing additive manufacturing.
One example of this collaboration is the connection between awareness and execution: while Leading Minds builds understanding of AM’s potential and helps companies overcome initial barriers, the AM I Navigator supports them with real-world use cases and transformation insights, providing clear, actionable guidance for implementation, a press communication reads.
AM I Navigator vs Leading Minds: What happened since their respective launch
Since its launch, the AM I Navigator has been applied in multiple industrial transformation initiatives. Companies use the maturity model to benchmark their current AM capabilities, align investments across the end‑to‑end process chain, and derive clear roadmaps toward higher levels of automation, quality, and economic viability. This structured approach enables confident decision‑making and supports the progression from pilot applications toward industrial production.
The AM I Navigator ecosystem has continued to grow and now includes additional partners such as Materialise, AMTPro, AZO, as well as knowledge partners including Capgemini and BCG.
Wohlers Associates, powered by ASTM International, strengthens the AM I Navigator network as a Knowledge Partner, contributing deep expertise in qualified additive manufacturing for high‑reliability and regulated industries. With a strong focus on standards, certification, and industrial readiness—particularly in demanding industries, such as Defense, Aerospace, Medical—Wohlers Associates enriches the initiative.
On the other hand, the first initiative announced by Leading Minds focuses on addressing the fragmentation and complexity of AM terminology.
Since its introduction, the framework has been expanding to cover all domains of the additive manufacturing production process and is already being actively used with customers, who value its ability to make conversations about AM clearer, standardized, and actionable.
As part of its broader mission, Leading Minds also invests in AM awareness by participating in major industrial events in North America and Europe, targeting sectors where adoption is still emerging and where additive manufacturing offers significant future potential.
The Leading Minds consortium announces the addition of the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG) as its newest member. MTDG, along with its subsidiary — the National Center for Defense Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM) and its America Makes program — focuses on helping manufacturers deploy advanced manufacturing technologies, and Colleges and Universities to embrace advanced manufacturing technologies.
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