Additive Manufacturing Coalition and America Makes campaign for policy updates that recognize the importance of additive manufacturing in aerospace and defense.
As additive manufacturing (AM) continues to evolve and mature as a technology and as an industry, engineers need to keep up with the latest developments. For the most part, that means staying on top of technical knowledge, training, upskilling and other workforce trends. There is no industry, after all, without the people powering it.
Outside of design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) and other such concerns about bringing new AM capabilities into consideration from conception, engineers would do well to pay attention to an issue that may often seem outside their niche: Policy.
AM Policy Drivers
Policy at national levels is, naturally, driven by different organizations across different nations. More and more countries are seeing the establishment of one or multiple such organizations to drive, promote, accelerate, invest in and otherwise take a direct approach on impacting countrywide AM policy.
America Makes, the US national accelerator for AM technology, is a public-private consortium powered by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). Founded ten years ago, the organization’s mission is to advance the US’ positioning in advanced manufacturing, accelerating adoption and enhancing national competitiveness.
Members come together annually at MMX – the Members Meeting and Exchange. Held this August in Canfield, Ohio, just miles from America Makes’ Youngstown headquarters, MMX brought hundreds of attendees, speakers, sponsors, federal officers, member businesses and media together for the 2023 exchange of ideas and information.
Among the many partners and collaborators present was the Additive Manufacturing Coalition (AMC). For its part, the AMC describes itself as “national membership organization recognized as the national voice for additive manufacturing with decision-makers and stakeholders, including Federal agencies and Congress.” The organization strives to connect its membership directly with decision-makers on the US Federal level.
(Disclosure: the author is a member of the AMC’s Board of Advisors.)
Exactly one year ago during MMX 2022, America Makes and the Additive Manufacturing Coalition announced a collaborative partnership. The ultimate goal of the move, the original announcement noted, was “to help coordinate the information and outreach activities to policy makers in Congress and the Federal Agencies to advance the industry.” While continuing individual work and initiatives, the announcement stated that, “The partnership will ensure that both organizations collaborate to advance the adoption of Additive Manufacturing throughout the commercial and governmental sectors.”
A year into the partnership, MMX 2023 offered the opportunity to touch base with leadership from both organizers to ask a few important questions:
- How is the collaborative partnership going?
- What measurable impact has been accomplished in this first year?
- What can engineers and stakeholders in advanced manufacturing gain from more direct pipelines to the US Federal government?
- And, most importantly: Why should engineers care about policy?
AM Policy Matters
“The Additive Manufacturing Coalition brings together the rapidly evolving set of industry players and helps us speak with one policy voice,” says Kimberly Gibson, Ecosystem Director, America Makes. “America Makes is seeking to craft a set of policy priorities for the Institute and its stakeholders. The Additive Manufacturing Coalition provides a vehicle to share those policy priorities truly at the Congressional level.”
L. David Cherington, Executive Director, Additive Manufacturing Coalition, agrees, adding that, “I’d say we’re a bridge between engineers and scientists to Congressional staff and Members.”
When it comes to the question of why, exactly, anyone in the industry ought to care about the Federal government and organizations working with Capitol Hill, Lisa Arafune, Director of Outreach, Additive Manufacturing Coalition, offers insights that should speak to both engineers and decision makers in AM:
“Standards, certifications, qualifications affect every company that wants to do business with the Federal government and with each other. Their ability to sell and buy parts, to do business, the ability of the entire industry to grow, to fill the needs that traditional manufacturing cannot fill, to do unique, interesting things that other forms of manufacturing can’t fulfill. The original regulations were written for traditional manufacturing. Because of that, they haven’t taken into account the relatively new forms of manufacturing that have appeared over the last 30 years, only those from over 100 years ago.”
To make policy appropriate to the technologies available today, Congress needs to have a clear understanding of the current capabilities and future opportunities AM provides. Currently, most have a relatively low level of knowledge and understanding about the industry, mostly viewing it through the lens of hobbyists or, at best, prototyping. Many Members of Congress and their staff were surprised, for example, to learn about the existence of metal additive manufacturing.
“Everything that Congress does affects all of us in our daily lives,” says Arafune. “It’s not just business, it’s personal, it’s things as far flung as immigration and higher education and school lunches; it affects all of us in different ways. Learning to communicate effectively with Congress and the Federal agencies can be helpful in many ways that directly impact AM and the engineers and businesses behind the industry.”
It’s critical that the AM community be present and communicate both the opportunities and the needs to those who set policy. The work that AM engineers do every day requires the support of the right stakeholders. That includes everyone from from corporate management to local, regional and national decision-makers and policy creators.
With so much legacy verbiage that can be traced back an entire Industrial Revolution (or two), it’s prudent to be concerned about outdated policies that could hold back advanced manufacturing.
Materials, DfAM product redesign and production processes may be overlooked altogether simply because they did not exist at all when the policies and requisition briefs were penned decades ago.
AM has been around since the 1980s – an eyeblink compared to other manufacturing processes. Casting and forging, for example, are millennia old, and even “newer” technologies like injection molding and CNC machining have been around for nearly a century – more than long enough, that is, to be well established in production processes and policy briefs.
It’s for this reason that, industries like aerospace and defense are often held back from considering AM production processes at all. These areas of opportunity are huge in national manufacturing budgets, and it’s high time that AM gains a solid seat at these tables.
Attendees at MMX 2023 clearly agreed. Panels with titles such as “Modernizing Defense Supply Chain with Next-Level Teaming and Collaboration” sought to shine a light on how the defense supply chain could—and should—benefit from a collaborative effort of AM stakeholders and industry participants. Gibson moderated this particular conversation, highlighting America Makes’ support of such initiatives.
Flying In for a Voice
To bring such messaging directly to the decision-makers, the Additive Manufacturing Coalition, with America Makes’ support, hosted a fly-in to US capital Washington, D.C. in the spring. This inaugural fly-in was the first of a planned annual happening (the next is slated for mid-April 2024) in which Coalition members gain direct access to their state’s Congressional representatives.
“The D.C. fly-in was an historic moment,” explains Gibson, “as the industry came together for the first time to establish a new set of policy priorities.”
“Together with industry, academia and other organizations, including America Makes, we had a big impact in this fly-in,” adds Cherington. “We were able to project a loud voice about AM to Capitol Hill. This resulted in part in language being included in the report accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for FY2024.”
Gaining a voice through the addition of language specifically calling additive manufacturing out in a national act is a major step for this industry. When asked how such language might impact the engineers behind the AM, Cherington doesn’t equivocate: This is huge.
“The language we asked for focuses specifically on the assessment of additive manufacturing for legacy weapons systems, relating directly to challenges for private entities and small businesses related to additive manufacturing,” he says. “For engineers specifically, this should be the beginning of more opportunities for private entities and small businesses to have opportunities to work – AM Forward is part of this. For engineers focused on AM, this should broaden opportunities for them.”
The AM Forward initiative President Biden signed last year marked a major step toward US national attention on additive manufacturing. Expanding on such an initiative with AM-specific language in the federal Assessment of Additive Manufacturing for Legacy Weapons Systems is a significant stride for the industry, and for AM engineers in particular.
AM Engineers and Policy
When it comes to the movers and shakers, collaborative efforts to educate Capitol Hill and the White House and touching base directly with Congress are key to advancing additive manufacturing.
Engineers should be paying close attention to the results of such efforts, as they may see impact in terms of standards, regulations, qualifications, requisition and, of course, job opportunities.
Career opportunities for engineers with AM experience will continue to rise along with the consideration of expanded federal approval for AM processes used in its contracts. Through reshoring and enhancing supply chain and logistics via manufacturing on demand (made possible with AM), the defense industry stands to benefit significantly.
“Federal stakeholders who understand the significance of AM are poised to reignite reshoring and fan the flames of these efforts,” says Arafune.
As policymakers dedicate more time and energy to including additive manufacturing, this industry stands at yet another starting gate of opportunity. Engineers: Be ready.
