Highlights from AM2016

The Additive Manufacturing Conference, the annual gathering focused on industrial manufacturing applications of 3D printing technology, returned this year to the largest manufacturing event in North America, the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS).

That show is where the AM Conference originated. It began as a half-day workshop at IMTS just two years ago, expanding in scope the following year when it was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, in conjunction with Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

This year’s conference was the most extensive so far. Nearly 500 manufacturing leaders from well-known OEMs in industries including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, power and consumer goods, as well as smaller firms serving these industries and others, all came to hear 20 speakers share their knowledge and experience of additive manufacturing in an information-packed program that somehow fit into one and a half days.

Recapping the conference is impossible. But in recognition of the value of the conference this year, Additive Manufacturing’s editors have tried to capture at least some of the information. On the pages linked below are samples of what all the AM2016 speakers had to say.
 

• Bates: AM Affects Many Manufacturing Competency Areas (UL)
• Cann: Inert versus Open Atmosphere for Laser Metal Deposition (Optomec)
• DeJong and Short: 3D Printing Transforms Machining by Assisting It (Karma Machining & Manufacturing)
• DelVecchio: No to FOMO—Print for the Right Reasons (Caterpillar)
• Fisk: Full Integration Is the Key to Additive Manufacturing Success (Methods 3D)
• Fukushima: Integration Is the Key to AM Growth (Sodick)
• Hanspal: The Next Generation of AM Software Will Be Generative (Autodesk)
• Hyatt: Why the Future of AM May Be Hybrid Manufacturing (DMG MORI)
• Kara: Aligning the Organization in “Additive Manufacturing Thinking” (EOS)
• Kraemer: Combining Technologies Produces Unexpected Solutions (PTI Engineered Plastics)
• Lucas: Sand Printing Expands Metal Possibilities, Too (ExOne)
• Misener: Uniform Thermal Surface Control Made Possible by Additive Manufacturing (Baker Industries)
• Neidig: Progress Toward a Model for DMLS (ITAMCO)
• Parks: Sort by Size and Material to Identify Legacy Parts (LMI)
• Saunders: Product Performance and Process Chain (Renishaw)
• Schneider: Nature’s Way of Cooling Tools with DMLS (Harbec)
• Scott: Successful Prints Require Feedback Before They Go to the Machine (Autodesk)
• Sudbury: Surface Finishing Options for Composite Tooling (Cincinnati Inc.)
• Thompson: Helpful Numbers Quantify Design Rules (Proto Labs)

Save the date:

The Additive Manufacturing 2017 Conference will return to Knoxville, Tennessee, October 10-12. For more information, watch additiveconference.com.