The biggest goal of MGA is to boost AM into industrial series production. To reach it, we need way more awareness of our technology in all areas of industry as well as certified production processes. There will certainly never be “enough” new applications. One fact is clear to all our members: We will not achieve that goal as individual players. Hence, we agreed on sharing our knowledge with everyone interested in Additive Manufacturing, following the mission of enabling more companies to adopt the technology and thus increasing its impact on the manufacturing industry. Finding an adequate way to share our findings became a key element of our process.

In 2018 the Working Group Education came up with the idea to create a map-based platform with all our network members listed with their own company profile. Based on the member company listings we wanted to create transparency and so we added more listing types step by step. Based on a filter property model elaborated by the Digital Supply Chain Working group, companies are now able to share successfully implemented AM Use Cases to give AM newcomers orientation and good practice examples for their own start in the field of 3D printing.

But we did not stop with companies and use cases, we also added with the help of the Materials Working Group a Materials Compass, that is intended to give all users an overview of which materials are available on the market and, above all, to which mechanical requirements they fit. Because we all know that in AM the range of materials is even greater than the number of different technologies.

Last but not least and again with the help of the Materials Working Group we compiled AM-relevant standards and come up with a filter logic that allows a quick overview of the standards landscape in AM.

So are you looking for a service provider specialised in printing Aluminium? Do you need impressions of Use Cases printed in Steel for your next project? Do you want to get inspiration of the latest innovative ideas from other professionals? Or are you just missing a standard for testing plastic parts? All this and much more can be found on the platform. And the best about it: The entries are connected to each other through their properties and are thus cross-searchable!