Siemens Launches Additive Manufacturing Network

Siemens PLM Software (Plano, TX) announced the launch of the Additive Manufacturing Network, a new online collaborative platform designed to bring on-demand design and engineering expertise, knowledge, digital tools, and production capacity for industrial 3D printing to the global manufacturing industry. First announced in concept at Hannover Messe 2017 and planned for rollout in mid-2018, the platform is launching with an early adopter program for designers and engineers, manufacturing service providers, 3D printing machine OEMs, material vendors and software providers to join the new ecosystem. By accelerating the distribution of knowledge, as well as streamlining, monitoring and securing the transactions and commercial processes for sourcing high quality functional prototypes and serial production parts, the Additive Manufacturing Network looks to reduce the overall adoption risk of additive manufacturing (AM) and create new business opportunities for all members of the global manufacturing community.

“AM will unfold its full disruptive potential if we enable direct access to highly valuable services, globally available AM systems and crucial knowledge for engineers, designers and machine operators,” stated Güngör Kara, the chief digital officer at EOS GmbH (Munich, Germany). “The Additive Manufacturing Network can help establish these connections and make them accessible to the general market with the aim of facilitating innovative AM parts and creating high performing AM production cells within a smart and fully digital factory. As a partner to the Additive Manufacturing Network, our company and our consulting unit, Additive Minds, together with Siemens, will help bring additive manufacturing to the next level.”

“As innovation cycles get shorter and shorter, companies need to constantly reimagine their products, reinvent manufacturing and rethink business,” said Jan Mrosik, the chief executive officer of the Digital Factory Division of Siemens. “The Additive Manufacturing Network augments our leading Digital Enterprise portfolio, where we combine the real world with the virtual world. It offers the AM industry – from product manufacturers, engineering companies, automation technology suppliers all the way to service providers – a place to co-create, co-innovate and come up with completely new business models.”

The new AM network creates an open ecosystem that instantly connects highly qualified members to co-innovate and help realize new products using the latest software tools, printing technologies and materials for additive manufacturing. Part buyers and manufacturing service providers can benefit from streamlined collaboration, quoting, procurement and order monitoring processes. This can facilitate the design of innovative products for AM, replacement of physical inventories with digital inventories, as well as economical scaling up or down of 3D printing production as needed. This is the next step in the company’s vision to digitally transform the global manufacturing industry and accelerate delivery of reimagined parts made with industrial additive manufacturing.

“We and Siemens share a vision for the industrialization of AM that will unlock unique advantages for our users, helping enable them to create better products more efficiently and economically,” noted Scott Sevcik, the vice president of manufacturing solutions at Stratasys Ltd. (Eden Prairie, MN). “We are enthusiastic to be an early partner in the network. It will be a great platform for connecting the ecosystem and facilitating the accessibility and adoption of additive manufacturing. We are excited to support the network with our industry leading AM technology and application expertise and by connecting to it our world class services division: Stratasys Direct Manufacturing.”

“We are right on schedule in launching the Additive Manufacturing Network, a commitment we made one year ago,” added Zvi Feuer, the senior vice president of manufacturing engineering software for Siemens. “Collaborating with a vibrant ecosystem of industry leaders and start-ups is a necessary element for building knowledge and accelerating new innovative solutions to scale. Our platform provides a unique capability to accumulate, store and reuse knowledge that can be utilized by diverse participants.”

The Additive Manufacturing Network early adopter program is currently accepting new partner applications. To learn more about the network and to join the early adopter program, please click here.

www.siemens.com/plm