OREANDA-NEWS. Oerlikon announced today that it has joined America Makes, the US National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. America Makes opens up significant opportunities for Oerlikon to partner with industry leaders and experts, and to be at the forefront of materials testing and research in the areas of additive manufacturing (AM) and 3-D printing (3DP).

Through this partnership with America Makes, Oerlikon becomes part of a network of leading organizations from academia, government, non-governmental agencies and industry, all of which are working together to innovate and accelerate the research, application and adoption of AM and 3DP. As a member of America Makes, Oerlikon will be able to leverage this expert network and gain valuable expertise to strengthen its own AM activities and reinforce its foothold in the AM and 3DP areas. America Makes’ AM technology roadmap addresses five specific technical areas: design, material, processing, value chain and AM genome.

AM is increasingly recognized as a promising breakthrough in manufacturing. It delivers many benefits compared to traditional production methods, as it allows customized and complex shapes to be created with existing or new materials. In doing so, AM can lead to performance gains and more cost- and material-effective methods in manufacturing.

Oerlikon’s strategic aim is to strengthen its leading offerings in surface solutions, advanced materials, components engineering and manufacturing technologies. AM is a promising technology for Oerlikon to provide customers with innovative solutions that enhance their products, for example with new material properties. Today, Oerlikon already offers a product portfolio of innovative powders optimized for laser-based and electron beam AM processes. With the AM industry at an early stage, Oerlikon sees great opportunities to be an early mover by working together with other leading players to develop next-generation materials, solutions for post-processing of components and services for AM production.

Dr. Roland Fischer, CEO of the Oerlikon Group, said: “We are seeing a growing demand for lighter materials, more durable properties and increased performance. AM has great potential to satisfy these requirements. At Oerlikon, we are ideally positioned to offer the unique combination of strong and established technology leadership in surface coatings, an extensive worldwide network of service centers, and the technological skills and product portfolio in metal powders from Oerlikon Metco. We look forward to being part of America Makes and working together with other leading industry experts to develop AM technologies and applications.”