Nikon believes metal Additive Manufacturing can become its next billion-dollar business. Backed by significant cumulative investment, the company is concentrating on defence, qualification strategy and production economics rather than general rapid expansion. Hamid Zarringhalam, in conversation with Martin McMahon and Nick Williams, explores how semiconductor-style process control and long equipment lifecycles underpin Nikon’s approach – and why execution, not enthusiasm, will determine how AM delivers durable industrial scale.
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Following our interview with Hamid Zarringhalam in the preceding article, Metal AM travelled to Nikon Advanced Manufacturing’s Long Beach, California facility to examine how the company’s defence-led strategy is being executed in practice. Reporting for Metal AM magazine, Martin McMahon toured the production floors, qualification laboratories and large-format NXG installations supporting U.S. defence programmes, assessing how Nikon is translating capital investment and policy alignment into repeatable process control, production throughput and industrial-scale capability.
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For Colnago, one of cycling’s most prestigious brands, the Steelnovo represents a showcase project – a modern interpretation of what the ‘perfect’ road bike might look like. Instead of the titanium more commonly used for additively manufactured frame lugs, the company worked with Additiva Srl and ATLIX to develop complex 316L steel nodes combined with Columbus steel tubing. Metal Additive Manufacturing magazine’s Nick Williams explores how the project demonstrates the potential of AM to modernise traditional materials while preserving the distinctive ride quality associated with steel frames.
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Additive Manufacturing is advancing rapidly across the defence sector, but technology alone does not deliver operational advantage. The real challenge is integration – linking machines, materials, data, and logistics into systems that can perform under operational pressure. In this article, MG (Ret.) Edward F Dorman III, former US Army theater sustainment commander and a recognised authority on contested logistics and defence industrial integration, assesses the current state of advanced manufacturing within the United States defence ecosystem and the implications for the future of US military sustainment and manufacturing.
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Wire-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED) is becoming one of the most practical routes for manufacturing large metal components, offering higher deposition rates and better material utilisation than many powder-based Additive Manufacturing processes. Yet wire-based DED is not a single technology category. Laser, electron beam, and arc-based systems each present different trade-offs in precision, productivity, thermal control, and industrial practicality. In this article, WAAM3D examines how these process families compare and why newer dual-wire approaches are expanding the industrial potential of large-scale metal AM.
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Additive Manufacturing Strategies 2026 offered a revealing snapshot of an industry entering a more sober phase. The discussions in New York were less about disruption and more about execution: how capital cycles shape machine sales, why software and ecosystems may determine who scales, and where polymer and metal Additive Manufacturing follow very different economic paths. If there was a common thread, it was that AM’s future will depend less on technology claims and more on solving specific industrial problems. Joseph Kowen reports.
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In high-temperature propulsion applications, it is materials that set the boundaries of what is possible. Additive Manufacturing may have changed how we build components, but it hasn’t necessarily changed what extremes these components can endure in service. NASA’s GRX-810 oxide-dispersion-strengthened superalloy tackles that constraint head-on: a high-temperature alloy designed, unlike legacy alloys, specifically for AM. Here, NASA’s Tim Smith and Paul Gradl explain how GRX-810 was developed, what has been demonstrated to date, and the pathway to commercial success.
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Ahead of its Formnext launch, Metal AM was invited to EOS’s facilities near Munich, Germany, for an exclusive preview of the new EOS M4 ONYX and in-depth discussions with the developers, product managers, and senior leadership behind it. What emerges is a development story shaped by customer priorities: not a departure into record-breaking extremes, but a focused evolution designed to deliver what production users value most. Dr Martin McMahon, Nick Williams, and Emma Lawn examine the technical priorities behind this response – process stability and repeatability, scan-field strategy, powder and waste handling, and the software controls supporting qualified series production.
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The inaugural Vicenza Symposium, which took place from September 2-4, 2025, brought jewellery manufacturers, researchers and industry leaders to Italy’s ‘Capital of Gold’ for three days of technical exchange in the UNESCO-listed Basilica Palladiana. Metal Additive Manufacturing featured prominently, from a striking Bulgari case study to research on hard-to-build precious metal alloys and emerging work on the Binder Jetting of gold. In this report, Michela Ferraro presents insights from three selected presentations, based on in-depth conversations with the authors.
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As manufacturers push towards higher Additive Manufacturing throughput, the limitations of traditional support removal methods become increasingly visible. Manual practices cannot reliably meet the safety, repeatability, and cost targets required for industrial Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB). toolcraft’s SupportBlaster 320-HA offers a semi-automated alternative, using dry-ice pellets to detach supports in a controlled manner. In this article, Joseph Kowen reviews the technology’s development, underlying process physics, and experimental data, highlighting its relevance for more scalable metal AM production.
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As metal Additive Manufacturing shifts toward larger, higher-value components, conventional AM simulation often fails to scale and remains focused on prediction rather than actionable process improvement. PanOptimization’s PanX seeks to address this gap with a scalable, high-fidelity Finite Element Analysis (FEA) solver for PBF-LB and DED that supports feed-forward optimisation of parameters, timing, and distortion compensation. In this article, Erik Denlinger and Pan Michaleris examine the technical innovations enabling next-generation AM simulation and the commercial implications for throughput and yield, as well as market directions.
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Denmark’s AM Summit 2025, held on October 1 alongside the HI Tech & Industry Scandinavia Expo in Herning, offered a clear snapshot of the country’s fast-maturing AM scene. With a new format aimed at production-focused SMEs, the event drew many first-time attendees and sought to strengthen links between AM innovators and traditional manufacturers. Across keynotes and panels, speakers explored the current shift from prototyping to manufacturing that delivers resilience and measurable value. Here, the Danish AM Hub’s Rikke Uldall-Ekman reports on event highlights.
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Additive Manufacturing’s promise isn’t in ‘printing everything’ – it is in knowing exactly where to apply the technology. At Domin, a UK manufacturer of motion control products, CEO Marcus Pont’s team uses the technology sparingly yet decisively, exploiting AM-enabled innovations and its potential to deliver complex internal geometries. The twist? A focus on steel. Too often overlooked for titanium or aluminium, maraging steel underpins robust, precise, and efficient hydraulic products. Martin McMahon explores the disciplined use of AM as powerful tool: performance first, costs controlled, and selectively delivering impact at scale.
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The notion of a digital warehouse encapsulates the potential of cloud-based digital twins, produced locally and on demand by Additive Manufacturing. This approach promises increased efficiency, sustainability, and resilience against trade barriers and logistical disruptions. In the Winter 2021 edition of Metal AM, an initial survey established a baseline of practice in digital spare parts. In this article, Joseph Kowen revisits that foundation, analysing subsequent developments, persistent challenges, and the evolving industrial and geopolitical factors influencing the adoption of additively manufactured spare parts.
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As space missions push towards 100 kW nuclear fission systems and megawatt-class propulsion, thermal management is becoming a critical bottleneck. Backed by NASA programmes and working with 3D Systems, researchers at Penn State and Arizona State universities are leveraging metal AM to develop titanium radiator panels with integral heat pipes and NiTi components for self-deploying systems. Tests under simulated orbital conditions showed more than 50% performance gains, proving AM’s potential to cut mass and boost efficiency in spacecraft cooling.
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At the 21st Plansee Seminar, it became clear that Additive Manufacturing has firmly established itself within the refractory metals and hard materials community. Presentations covered the full process spectrum – from powder handling and melt pool modelling to in-situ control and post-processing – with results directly relevant to industrial adoption. As Bernard North reports, work on molybdenum, tungsten, rhenium and niobium highlighted practical paths toward dense, reliable components for energy, aerospace and nuclear fusion technologies, marking a decisive step from laboratory feasibility to engineered applications.
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REM Surface Engineering has worked with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for decades to develop surface finishing processes for metal components used in space missions – more recently including those produced by Additive Manufacturing. Drawing on its aerospace and medical experience, REM has adapted its Isotropic Superfinishing (ISF®) and Chemical Polishing (CP) technologies to address the roughness and surface variability of AM parts. In this article, REM’s Justin Michaud and Agustin Diaz trace the evolution of that work, culminating in the development of ultralight, crushable lattice structures for the Mars Sample Return mission.
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Wire Arc Directed Energy Deposition (DED-ARC/W), also known as Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), is gaining traction as a high-deposition-rate solution for large-scale metal parts. At WAAMathon #2 in Berlin, leading experts from industry and research explored the technology’s rapid progress – from machine design and process automation to real-world applications. As Dr Joerg Lantzsch reports, the event highlighted DED-ARC/W’s growing relevance across a wide range of sectors, with use cases spanning from turbine blades to underwater habitats.
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Wire Electron Beam Directed Energy Deposition (DED-EB/W) is gaining attention as a highly efficient metal Additive Manufacturing process. Offering high deposition rates, minimal thermal distortion, and excellent energy efficiency, the process addresses two major industry challenges: productivity and resource use. As sustainability regulations tighten and demand grows for large-scale, cost-effective components, DED-EB/W presents a compelling alternative to powder-based AM systems. In this article, Bernd Baufeld and Alejandro Zamorano Reichold of Pro-beam Additive GmbH review the technology and examine its technical foundations and potential for industrial-scale adoption.
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Additive Manufacturing is gaining traction in regulated industries, but broader adoption depends on proven qualification frameworks. This article explores the methodology developed by Qualified AM GmbH, demonstrated through case studies in the semiconductor, rail, and remote manufacturing environments. Whether applying ISO/ASTM 52920, 52904, 52930, 52928, 52901 or industry standards such as ISO 9001, AS/EN 9100, and ISO 13485, Qualified AM supports industry with a scalable, standards-based approach to compliant and decentralised AM production.
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