EU Program Supports SME Adoption of 3D Printing

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are often challenged to deploy additive manufacturing (AM) technology because of the high cost of entry. A European Union (EU) program can help address this challenge.

The EU-funded AdditiveManufacturABLE (AMable) program is helping SMEs develop their ideas into final products, as well as creating a digital framework to provide access to European AM knowledge. According to the Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS), the EU’s primary source of results from funded projects, AMable plans to open a new call for proposals in July.

The AMable project was launched “to speed up the adoption of AM technologies by overcoming obstacles related to lack of skilled human resources, access to know-how, equipment, infrastructure and markets. The range of AM support services are provided through an open source and application programming interface-based digital marketplace,” according to CORDIS.

Project goals include creation of an open-source AM ecosystem that can help European SMEs become self-sustainable after project execution. AMable also hopes to provide all necessary assistance to those companies and provide a range of support services. The project will also support and develop best-in-class AM data handling tools and processes.

AMable is looking for ideas for functional products that use AM technologies. In addition to financial support, the AMable offers SMEs opportunities for collaboration, training and experimentation. You can view the guide for applicants on the project website.

The program will finance “businesses that use 3D printing in experimentation, including short-term feasibility studies and best practice experiments where costs range from EUR 5,000 to 60,000”, according to CORDIS. The project also offers AM-related services to support experimentation teams “so that they could reach a state where their product idea has a design that is additively manufactureable.”

Selected teams will have access to AMable services and the AMable digital data-chain framework that is based on technologies from the Industrial Data Space and blockchain.

The first open call took place in 2018, and among the projects that received AMable support were a new motorcycle fork, a suspension component, development and production of an optimized hydraulic block, and development of a vinyl disk cartridge.

Source: CORDIS