AMFG in 2019: Our Year In Review

20 December 2019

2019 was another year of important innovations and milestones for the additive manufacturing industry, as AM continues its path towards industrialisation. 
 
2019 was also a milestone year for AMFG, as our company made huge strides in bringing more of our MES solutions to market. 
 
With 12 months of exciting growth almost behind us, here are just some of our highlights from 2019. 
 

January – Developing machine learning solutions for additive manufacturing 

We kickstarted the year by announcing our funding from Innovate UK to develop AI and machine learning solutions for our MES software. 
 
With the industry moving towards serial production, the ability to ensure part quality and to optimise operations will play a crucial role in furthering the adoption of the technology.
 
Our Innovate UK funding, therefore, focuses on two key areas: improving quality assurance processes and optimising the production scheduling workflow. This includes developing ways to improve the analysis of parts during the QA stage and developing further machine learning technology to facilitate dynamic scheduling and predictive analyses. 
 

February – Expanding to Germany

Another exciting milestone came in February, as we announced the opening of our new office in Munich.
 
With one of the most advanced user bases in the industry, Germany is an exciting hub for AM innovation and development.
 
Expanding to Germany has been a key step in bringing us closer to our customers, and empowering companies to scale their AM operations with our software. 
 

April – Publishing the first Additive Manufacturing Landscape

In an industry that is in a constant state of flux, keeping up with the main companies and technologies is challenging. 
 
This year, we published our first additive manufacturing landscape, with the aim of providing greater clarity about the current state of the industry. 
 
Following the phenomenal reaction to our initial infographic, we also published a whitepaper taking an in-depth look at each segment of the additive manufacturing industry. You can read our findings here — and stay tuned for the 2020 edition!
 

May – AMFG Named IDC Innovator for 3D Printing Workflow Solutions

We’ve witnessed a growing recognition about the role of software in streamlining the additive manufacturing workflow over the last 12 months, as companies increasingly seek ways to scale their AM operations. 
 
That’s why we were thrilled when global market intelligence firm, IDC named AMFG as one of their four innovators for 3D printing workflow software solutions. 
 
From the report: “The companies identified as IDC Innovators offer innovative new solutions and technologies or groundbreaking business models that could accelerate their growth and potential market impact.”
 

July – Publishing our first State of the Industry report

 
This summer we published our first-ever State of the Industry report, with this edition focused on the 3D printing service bureau market.
 
Service providers play a crucial role within the additive manufacturing industry, with one EY study showing that almost a third of all companies will be using service providers to produce AM parts by 2022. 
 

 
With the market for 3D printing services becoming increasingly competitive in 2019, we set out to discover the reality of the market landscape for AM service providers. We conducted an industry-wide survey of dozens of service bureaus around the world to understand their experience of the additive manufacturing market. 
 
The result: a 36-page report that shows a rapidly-growing yet competitive market, complete with expert insights and commentary. Indeed, it says as much about the state of the 3D printing industry as it does about the service bureau market. 
 

September – Exploring digitalisation and additive manufacturing

 
“You can’t have traceability in additive manufacturing without data.”
 
Those were the words of our SVP, Nico Bruel, speaking at the TCT Show in Birmingham this September.
 
Manufacturing is experience a digital transformation, and additive manufacturing will be at the heart of this evolution. In his presentation, Nico spoke in depth about the opportunities of digitalisation and the role of MES software in ensuring repeatability, traceability, agility & connectivity across the AM workflow.
 

October – Exploring AM around the world at the AM Summit 2019

The global landscape for additive manufacturing is changing rapidly. 
 
In October, our Senior Marketing Manager, Victoria Akinsowon, spoke as part of a panel session at the 2019 AM Summit, organised by the Danish AM Hub, looking at the developments of additive manufacturing around the world. 
 
While the US and Europe have traditionally had the largest share of the additive manufacturing market, developments in other regions could have a transformative impact on the industry in the years ahead.
 
Check out other insights from the conference below:

 

November – Announcing partnerships with EOS and Autodesk 

November is one of the busiest months for the industry, not least because of Formnext, the largest trade show for additive manufacturing. 
 
This year was no exception, and Formnext was bigger and better than ever. 
 
We were thrilled to be able to announce two new partnerships with EOS and Autodesk ahead of the show, both of which focus on making end-to-end connectivity for additive manufacturing a reality.
 

One of the biggest barriers to 3D printing adoption is the disconnected nature of the AM workflow. Alongside EOS, we aim to establish a fully connected and automated workflow by empowering users to connect directly with their machines through our platform. 
 
Our cooperation with Autodesk will enable users of Netfabb® and Fusion 360® to use the software seamlessly with our MES software. In practice, this means the ability to prepare 3D files for printing using Autodesk’s solutions, while using our software to manage their production. 

 
We’ll have more exciting partnerships to announce in the new year, so stay tuned!
 

December – Celebrating our Expert Interviews series

 
With our final Expert Interview of the year published this week, 2019 has been a great year for the relaunch of our Expert Interview series. 
 
Through our series, we aim to get to the heart of what is happening within the industry by hearing from experts in the field. 
 
Over the last 12 months, we’ve had the privilege of hearing how companies like Carbon, Fortify and 3DEO are building solutions to ramp up for high-volume production, developments in the materials space from the likes of Solvay and how OEMs like Ford Motor Company and Dunlop Systems have successfully adopted 3D printing in-house for a range of applications. 
 
With a flurry of activity across all segments of the industry, be sure to stay tuned for more interviews in 2020!
 
And in the meantime, check out our library of expert interviews here.  
 

Looking to 2020

We’re thankful to all of our customers, partners and readers who have helped to make 2019 an incredible year for the AMFG team. 
 
We’re already excited for 2020 and can’t wait to share the new products and partnerships we have lined up. Stay tuned for more – and be sure to follow us on Linkedin for all of our latest news!