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Last week, for the third consecutive year, CECIMO organised and presented the ‘Additive Manufacturing European Conference’ (AMEC) in the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
Brando Benifei (S&D), Anthea McIntrye (ECR) and Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (ALDE), Members of the European Parliament, co-hosted the event. Attracting over a hundred participants, among them industry leaders and policy-makers, AMEC was used as a platform to stress the need for a deeper EU approach.
As such, the European Additive Manufacturing Strategy was published. It outlines several areas of focus which, if addressed properly, will reinstate the continent’s status as the driving force of 3D printing. Filip Geerts, CECIMO Director General, points out: “It is important to have a forward-looking approach, which will serve the EU in achieving its larger goals, like industrial policy, digitisation but also e.g. circular economy.”
At the forefront of this strategy is education and the development of skills. CECIMO has long been an advocate of the concept of a balance between solid engineering know-how and highly skilled personnel on the shop-floor. Yet, the report gives a damning verdict on education’s oversight of additive manufacturing within Europe.
CECIMO AM EU report
Education and skills are at the forefront of CECIMO's strategy to accelerate additive manufacturing in Europe.
It reads: “Education systems across European countries have at times shown signs of obsolescence. Educators find [it] difficult to catch up with the fast-paced developments of AM technologies. As a result, skills acquired by entrants to the AM labour market are at risk of misalignment with the current skills’ needs of companies. There is a need for a step change in approaching the preparation of curricula and setting out teaching strategies.”
This assessment is supported by the finding that around 87% of schools around the world limit students’ access to 3D printing technology. Educators cited an inability to manage and control access to the 3D printer available in the school and a lack of guidance on adding 3D printing to classroom curricula among the reasons for overlooking the technology.
CECIMO recommends a top-down support strategy. While, suggesting an increase in EU funding, it also advises enabling additive system producers to have an involvement in curricula creation, so educators can keep up with latest technology developments. Additionally, it raises the notion of connecting fab-labs across the continent to foster the matching of complementary strengths, and encourages support for AM-related courses at all stages of education from middle-school up.
CECIMO published its European Additive Manufacturing Strategy after the 3rd 'Additive Manufacturing European Conference'.
The second phase of the strategy focuses on standards and certifications, and alludes to the lengthy and costly qualification procedure for the introduction and implementation of new alloys in aerospace. It stresses that by supporting more coordination on standardisation efforts, industry can spare time and financial resources for qualification in AM.
Third on the agenda, concerns Intellectual Property and patents development. The report suggests better enforcement of IP laws would reduce fears among innovators. It also floats the idea of lowering IP costs and patent grant times, especially for SMEs, and to better define Intellectual Property Rights, to make clear the extent to which a CAD file can be distributed for additive production.
On Research and Development, the CECIMO wants to see the development of a comprehensive environment of research. Start-up and SME participation should be encouraged, online portals for project proposals to allow SMEs to increase the visibility of their project should be established, and funding should be reinforced, according to the company.
Elsewhere in the report, CECIMO covers access to finance for SMEs and AM companies, before making points on ICT & cyber security; health and safety; and global trade.
