3D Printing Consortium Seeks to Speed Industrial Adoption

Citing 3D printing's ongoing transition from a niche innovation to a high-volume manufacturing method, TRUMPF, Renishaw, Ansys, EOS, and Nikon SLM are among the founding members of a consortium seeking to address manufacturer's challenges in the adoption and scaling of 3D printing technology for industrial use. Joined by HP, Materialise, and Stratasys, the Leading Minds consortium has identified its first initiative as the development of a common language framework for 3D printing.

According to the consortium members, the collective effort is not just about enhancing 3D printing, but about taking practical, actionable steps to reshape the manufacturing landscape to be more innovative, sustainable, and capable of meeting the evolving needs of advanced manufacturing. The primary objective of the Leading Minds consortium is to broadly increase awareness of 3D printing’s capabilities across more industries and eliminate hurdles that manufacturers face.

The Leading Minds consortium, comprised of Ansys, EOS, HP, Materialise, Nikon SLM, Renishaw, Stratasys, and TRUMPF, is working to address the common challenges noted by manufacturers that have so far hindered the adoption of additive manufacturing technologies in production processes. Courtesy of Materialise.

Despite its promise, many manufacturing companies still encounter barriers to 3D printing adoption. According to a 2023 survey conducted by B2B International of companies in the U.S. Germany, and Japan, companies recognize 3D printing as a key trend in manufacturing, but 98% of the companies surveyed experience challenges and barriers to adopting 3D printing, such as a lack of expertise, perceived high costs, and sometimes complex integration with established processes.

At present, the consortium said, many companies and technologies operate using different terminology for similar concepts, making it difficult to collaborate effectively. To resolve this, the consortium intends to develop a common language framework to facilitate a clearer understanding of 3D printing’s capabilities.