Biden Administration Launches Additive Manufacturing Forward, Calls on Congress to Pass Bipartisan Innovation Act

Recently, the White House officially released AM Forward (Additive Manufacturing Forward), which will help American households reduce costs by improving the competitiveness of small and medium-sized American manufacturers, creating and maintaining high-paying manufacturing jobs, and improving supply chain resiliency through the use of additive manufacturing. .

Improve manufacturing capacity and resist inflation

AM Forward (Additive Manufacturing Forward) affirms that the Biden administration’s top economic priority is to fight inflation by reducing costs facing working families and reducing the federal deficit.

One of the best ways to reduce the cost of goods and services that households rely on today is to make more products in the U.S. and have a safer, more resilient supply chain, the AM Forward fact sheet affirms. During this crisis, the United States has learned a hard lesson — fragile supply chains and hollowed-out manufacturing lead to backlogs, bottlenecks and higher prices for household items.

President Biden’s anti-inflation plan is committed to addressing this problem head-on, with the fact sheet claiming that the U.S. is in the midst of a manufacturing boom, with more than $200 billion in investment in new manufacturing facilities and record jobs. The fact sheet claims the Biden administration has spurred unprecedented job growth and the fastest economic recovery in nearly four decades. Since taking office, President Biden’s actions have created 7.9 million jobs, including 473,000 in manufacturing.

The fact sheet claims that companies are again investing in the U.S. to bring high-paying manufacturing jobs back home. Whether in semiconductors, advanced batteries or other leading industries, companies are opening new facilities and announcing their commitment to producing the world’s most cutting-edge technology in the United States. The fact sheet claims this is the beginning of a broad recovery in U.S. industrial manufacturing strength, and continuing that momentum is key to easing price pressures and lowering inflation across the economy. That’s why there needs to be a commitment to making more products in the U.S., strengthening U.S. supply chains, strengthening U.S. leadership in future industries, and reducing household costs.

The first is the historical resources in bipartisan infrastructure law that are rebuilding America’s roads, bridges, ports, airports, and making American businesses and workers more competitive globally. America can take the next step with the Bipartisan Innovation Act, which will make generational investments in innovation, domestic manufacturing and lower prices through stronger supply chains.

AM Forward builds on this work to advance key administrative goals:

• Increase supply chain resilience and innovation by investing in small and medium-sized companies;
• Develop future industries and overcome coordination challenges that limit the adoption of new technologies such as additive manufacturing;
• More invention and manufacturing in the U.S. through investments in regional manufacturing ecosystems.

Each of these goals is also advanced by the Bipartisan Innovation Act (BIA), which creates an Office of Supply Chain at the Department of Commerce, supports foundational technologies such as additive manufacturing, and invests in regional technology centers and increased funding for U.S. manufacturing Research Institute and Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

The AM Forward (Additive Manufacturing Advance) fact sheet affirms that keeping up with the pace of technological change should not be the ability of a few, nor should it be an out-of-reach goal of most U.S. manufacturing bases. Rather, it should be the backbone of American industrial competitiveness—3D printingThe technology will be widely deployed and available to companies large and small.

Implementing the Bipartisan Innovation Act (BIA) would put3D printing– Critical new technologies such as additive manufacturing are in the hands of entrepreneurs and companies across the country – increasing the productivity and resilience of American manufacturers while reducing costs for American households.

Improve cooperation between large enterprises and SMEs

Based on the fact that not enough U.S. companies currently use 3D printing or other high-performance production technologies, several leading international players have joined the launch of the Additive Manufacturing Forward initiative (AM Forward), a large iconic manufacturer with its smaller U.S. supply Voluntary contracts between merchants.

GE Aviation-GE Aviation, Honeywell-Honeywell, Lockheed Martin-Rock Hill Martin, Raytheon-Raytheon and Siemens Energy-Siemens Energy are the initial participants in AM Forward. These leading manufacturers will support their U.S. suppliers in adopting new additive manufacturing capabilities, helping transform the U.S. shop floor.

In additive manufacturing, producers transmit computer data to industry3D printer. These machines, in turn, manufacture parts on demand directly in the supplier’s own store. Companies use this 3D printing capability to reduce the number of parts required for applications, manufacture spare parts one at a time as needed, and design high-performance components that are currently used in industries ranging from aerospace to medical devices.

Through AM Forward (Additive Manufacturing Forward), each of these participating businesses will make a clear public commitment to purchase 3D printed-additively manufactured parts from smaller U.S. suppliers; to supplier workers Conduct new additive manufacturing technology training; provide detailed technical assistance to support their suppliers in adopting new capabilities; work on common standards development and certification for additive manufacturing products.

Among other public commitments:

GE Aviation will issue requests for quotations for 50% of external procurement for products manufactured using additive manufacturing technology or related technologies for small and medium-sized suppliers; 30% of the total external procurement volume will be allocated to US SME suppliers.

Raytheon will be looking for small and medium-sized manufacturers to participate in more than 50 percent of requests for quotations for products manufactured using additive manufacturing technology; the company will also seek to simplify and speed up the procurement process for additively manufactured parts.

Siemens Energy aims to source 20-40% of its externally sourced additive manufacturing parts and services from U.S. suppliers and partners. Siemens Energy will work with 10-20 US SME suppliers to help increase their additive manufacturing capabilities. Also, 10-20 SME suppliers will be trained on inspection and post-processing best practices.

Lockheed Martin will conduct research in collaboration with its U.S. SME suppliers to improve the performance of 3D printing-additive manufacturing additive manufacturing technologies, with a particular focus on the use of 3D printing as an alternative to castings and forgings; will further participate in the increase of universities and technical colleges Material manufacturing talent development programmes, including courses and apprenticeships.

Honeywell will target U.S.-based SME suppliers to provide manufacturing opportunities for product, machinery, manufacturing tooling and/or manufacturing process development using additive or related technologies. Technical assistance in part design, data generation, machine operation, post-processing, parts inspection/quality management will also be provided to its SME suppliers.

3D Science Valley understands that AM Forward is a completely voluntary compact that any OEM can participate in as long as they are willing to make a public commitment to support the adoption of additive manufacturing capabilities by their suppliers. Will be supported by the non-profit organization Applied Science and Technology Research Organization (ASTRO).

Boosting SME adoption of additive manufacturing

In support of AM Forward, the Biden administration has identified a series of federal programs that U.S. small and medium-sized manufacturers can use to support their adoption of additive manufacturing capabilities and improve competitiveness. Government action is focused on helping to overcome common challenges hindering the deployment of additive manufacturing technologies, especially among smaller manufacturers.

These plans include:

Access to financing for small and medium-sized manufacturers in the U.S.: Providing affordable financing to small manufacturers will support the installation of additive equipment by reducing costs. To address this, the USDA will provide agricultural manufacturers with its commercial and industrial programs to support the purchase of new additive manufacturing technology machines, as well as the training needed to upskill the workforce. The bank will highlight its new domestic loan scheme, which can help SME manufacturers upgrade their existing production facilities. The Small Business Administration will work with AM Forward participants to study how its 504 loan program and Small Business Investment Corporation (SBIC) program can support the broad deployment of new additive capabilities across the U.S. industry.

Provide technical assistance from the federal government and OEMs to SMEs in the United States: SME manufacturers have noted the need for technical assistance to maximize utilization3D printerand other new production technologies. In support of AM Forward, the U.S. Department of Energy will provide a manufacturing demonstration facility at the National Oak Ridge National Laboratory for use by SME manufacturers to test new additive manufacturing technologies. Manufacturing Expansion Partnership Will Provide Enhanced Technical Assistance; U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) will use its Mentor Protection Program to compensate AM Forward’s large OEM participants to small U.S. owned and controlled socially and economically disadvantaged individuals The cost of technical assistance provided by the supplier. The Department of Defense’s Manufacturing Technology Program Office will work with U.S. manufacturing companies, the Department of Defense-sponsored Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and AM Forward members on pilot standardization projects.

Invest in additive manufacturing talent education: To fully utilize additive manufacturing capabilities, SMB manufacturers must train their workforce differently to successfully deploy additive manufacturing capabilities, including upskilling workers. As such, America Makes will work with AM Forward participants to develop workforce training courses; and, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor, will assist manufacturers in launching an additive manufacturing apprenticeship program.

Setting Industry Standards: Finally, as 3D printing requires different standards and process certifications, the US Department of Commerce will conduct measurement science research through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to overcome key barriers to widespread use of metal-based materials. Additive manufacturing as the technological foundation for developing new high-priority standards and disseminating these results to AM by leading standards development within ASTM International, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and others Forward participants.

(responsible editor: admin)