ASTM partners with major OEMs to launch Additive Manufacturing quality certification
ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE) has launched a new manufacturer certification programme designed to enhance quality assurance, ensure regulatory compliance, and improve process control across the Additive Manufacturing supply chain.
The mission of this programme is to define shared expectations for manufacturer quality in AM and create a technically rigorous and practical certification framework. Tailored with OEM-specific requirements to ensure relevance across sectors, the audit criteria are built on internationally recognised standards, including ISO/ASTM 52901, ISO/ASTM 52904, and ISO/ASTM 52920. The ASTM clarified that while these quality management systems (QMS) have been critical to the industry’s development, they are not designed to focus specifically on the needs of Additive Manufacturing.
To develop its programme, the AM CoE formed the Additive Manufacturing Certification Committee (AMCC) with more than twenty-five end users, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Safran, Ford Motor Company, Stryker, Becton Dickinson, General Motors, and other leading organisations. The resulting AM certification programme aims to validate AM-specific activities not fully addressed by general QMS programmes.
“By aligning end-user requirements and providing third-party assurance, this initiative helps unlock the full potential of AM in high-performance applications,” said Dr Martin White, director of technical operations for ASTM International. “This programme closes a critical gap in qualifying manufacturers that need to meet industry and regulatory demands.”
To validate the audit criteria and certification approach, the AM CoE conducted pilot audits at AM Craft, Oechsler, and KSB. Each engagement is said to demonstrate the programme’s adaptability across different technologies, materials, and operating environments.
“This was a truly positive and valuable opportunity for us,” said Stephan Braun, Specialist Engineer Additive Manufacturing at KSB. “We discovered areas for improvement to stay ahead and remain best in class. I would even dare to call this audit an enjoyable experience.”
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“The audit was thorough, but also collaborative and insightful,” said Andreas Knoechel, Head of Program Management at Oechsler. “It gave us a clear understanding of how our practices align with evolving expectations and where we can improve further.”
With this new certification offering, ASTM International and the AMCC aim to help manufacturers save time and money by reducing redundant audits, facilitate compliance by improving transparency between OEMs and suppliers, and accelerate time-to-market with AM technologies that meet the highest standards of quality and safety.
The AM certification programme joins the suite of ASTM AM CoE certification programmes that include AMQ (ISO/ASTM 52920), for additively manufactured parts (ISO/ASTM 52901) and metal Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) processes (ISO/ASTM 52904), as well as AM facility safety certification (ISO/ASTM 52931), and numerous personnel certifications (e.g. ISO/ASTM 52942, ISO/ASTM 52926), among others.
