The 3rd edition of AMEF (Additive Manufacturing European Forum) took place on October 23rd and 24th in Brussels. This series of conferences is born from the H2020 Coordinated Support Action: “AM-Motion: “A strategic approach to increasing Europe’s value proposition for Additive Manufacturing technologies and capabilities” and counts with the endorsement of the AM Platform.”
For one and a half day, policy makers, industry leaders, SMEs, universities, research and technology centers as well as other key stakeholders have been discussing the economic, social and technical issues that should be tackled within the European Union and beyond its borders.
Before discussing the current challenges of these technologies, it should be noted that 2017 saw a certain improvement in research and development. R&D has been a priority for the EU, which led to an increase of 20% in the budget allocated to AM researches, but also the creation of associations, the launch of new projects as well as smart specialisation platforms.
Main barriers to the adoption of AM technologies
In order to facilitate the use of additive manufacturing by EU companies, a roadmap is made available to all professionals who take advantage of 3D printing. The only thing is that it does not yet clearly define “who does what” in the various tasks to be performed in the industry.
A major obstacle that still needs to be addressed is that of intellectual property and regulation.
3D printing might unfortunately allow the illegitimate modification of parts that do not have the robustness of the original but still integrate its essence, therefore, destroying brand reputation. Furthermore, as regulation allows the distribution of illegitimate copies, providers of 3D printing services run the risk of having the printed part used for inappropriate purposes by the end user.
“There is therefore a need to keep build confidence on the one hand, on the other hand, to transform this knowledge into market solutions for professionals.”
To communicate or not to communicate?
Communication is essential: but is there not “too much information”? Do companies communicate wisely? Of all the questions aroused by the community, the main one consists in determining if 3D printing is truly for us.
What about production?
Moreover, production is not a single step. The entire production chain still needs to be considered.
New market entrants
However, although there are various challenges to overcome, it should be noted that innovations still need to be encouraged. The automotive and aerospace industries remain therefore the sectors that count a lot of innovations. There is also a growing use of AM in the manufacturing of consumer goods.
Lastly, railways and processing industries are the two new sectors that debut in this industry.
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