Draft Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing Version 3.0 Released for Comment

Comments Invited by May 31, 2023

NEW YORK, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, America Makes and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) released a draft of the Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (Version 3.0) for public review and comment. Developed by the America Makes and ANSI Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC), the roadmap was last published in June 2018. It identifies key issues, notes relevant published and in-development standards, and offers recommendations to address gaps in standards and specifications for additive manufacturing (AM). This includes recommending pre-standardization research and development (R&D) where needed. It also proposes prioritized timeframes for when standardization work should occur, as well as standards developing organizations (SDOs) or others that may be able to lead such work. Working groups, including a new one on data across the AM lifecycle, have been developing the draft roadmap since a kickoff event held in September 2022.

The request for comment specifically invites observations or statements that represent critical revisions and needed clarifications on the roadmap content. Comments on the draft roadmap may be submitted to [email protected] by close of business on Wednesday, May 31, 2023. Use of the form provided (see below) is required to better manage and review comments. The AMSC working groups are currently on hiatus and will reconvene in June to address the submissions received and finalize the document for publication by the end of July 2023. While all comments are welcome, the AMSC reserves the right to hold the disposition of comments in reserve for a future iteration of the document if they are unable to be addressed within the time available. This could include, for example, comments on the document's organization, or issues not addressed.

The draft roadmap and related materials may be downloaded as follows:

• Working Draft Version 3.0 Standardization Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing (374 page 6MB pdf file)
• Instructions for Using Comment Form (pdf file) 
• Comment Form (required) (Excel file). When accessing the form, you may be prompted for credentials; just hit "Cancel" one or more times to download and open the document.

Developed with input from hundreds of experts from industry, government, SDOs, and academia, the AMSC's roadmap describes the current and desired future standardization landscape for AM. The focus is industrial AM across market sectors that are using AM technologies. The roadmap is targeted toward a broad audience including OEMs, material producers, government and industry users of AM, SDOs, the R&D community, and others. Additional metadata has been introduced in the gaps to facilitate searching by lifecycle area, industry sector, material type, AM processes, and qualification and certification category. Gaps also consider current alternatives being used until an AM standard or specification is available to address an issue.

Over the last few years, the AMSC has been issuing semi-annual progress reports to maintain the roadmap as a "living document," tracking the publication of new standards or the initiation of new standards projects by SDOs to address the gaps and recommendations contained in version 2.0. The AMSC also held a series of virtual events on various issues of concern, including process control to enable qualification, design for AM, feedstock materials, and inspection/monitoring. Following a survey released in early 2022 about use of the roadmap, the AMSC advisory group—comprised of industry, government, and SDO representatives—concluded it was time to update the document so that it remains relevant and aligns with current practices and stakeholder needs.

The AMSC was launched in 2016 as a cross-sector coordinating body whose purpose is to accelerate the development of industry-wide AM standards and specifications to facilitate the growth of the AM industry. The AMSC does not develop standards. Rather, it identifies standardization needs to help drive coordinated standards development activity among SDOs. As administrator and coordinator of the U.S. private-sector-led voluntary standardization system, ANSI has long served as a neutral facilitator with a successful track record of convening stakeholders from the public and private sectors to define standardization needs for emerging technologies and to address national and global priorities.

For more information, visit the AMSC webpage at www.ansi.org/amsc or contact ANSI staff: Jim McCabe, senior director, standards facilitation ([email protected]; 212-642-8921), or Christine Bernat, associate director, standards facilitation ([email protected]; 212-642-8919). 

About America Makes
America Makes is the nation's leading public-private partnership for additive manufacturing technology and education. America Makes members from industry, academia, government, workforce and economic development organizations work together to accelerate the adoption of AM and the nation's global manufacturing competitiveness. Founded in 2012 as the Department of Defense's manufacturing innovation institute for AM and first of the Manufacturing USA network, America Makes is based in Youngstown, Ohio, and managed by the not-for-profit National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). Visit www.americamakes.us to learn more.

About ANSI
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance both the global competitiveness of U.S. business and the U.S. quality of life by promoting and facilitating voluntary consensus standards and conformity assessment systems, and safeguarding their integrity. Its membership is comprised of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations.

The Institute represents and serves the diverse interests of more than 270,000 companies and organizations and 30 million professionals worldwide. ANSI is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). For more information, visit www.ansi.org.                                

SOURCE American National Standards Institute