Periodic Reporting for period 4 - AMable (AdditiveManufacturABLE)
Reporting period: 2021-11-01 to 2022-11-30
AMable has set off to support SMEs in the uptake of additive manufacturing (AM). It offers today support for SMEs grouped into eight service areas which address AM related needs from design to industrialisation. The primary aim of these services is to increase the SME’s AM skills and to facilitate the development of their innovative product ideas. For small businesses that propose their innovation ideas in one of the open calls, AMable offers not only the services free of charge, but also financial support from the European Commission. Through this, AMable has already supported 67 experiments and 128 European companies to bring their product ideas to life.
The AMable Community is the way forward for the consortium partners. In this AMable Community, the partners continue to offer technology events, support on ideation, business case assessment and product road-mapping. Moreover, the AMable Community Platform will offer a place for industry level knowledge exchange where all AM enthusiasts can put their questions and discuss with other experts on new solutions. Community members can share resources and join meet-ups so that various offerings suit individual needs.
The AMable Community is the way forward for the consortium partners. In this AMable Community, the partners continue to offer technology events, support on ideation, business case assessment and product road-mapping. Moreover, the AMable Community Platform will offer a place for industry level knowledge exchange where all AM enthusiasts can put their questions and discuss with other experts on new solutions. Community members can share resources and join meet-ups so that various offerings suit individual needs.
AMable has developed the services arena to offer relevant support in specific service areas. The uptake of additive manufacturing (AM) for SMEs is facilitated by delivering these services in “skill-up” mode so that the SME’s individuals are empowered to grow their business with additive manufacturing. AMable has run a support program where SMEs submitted their innovative product idea through open calls. To support standardisation and certification of products, a certification knowledge support programme was developed to raise awareness and to kick-start parallel activities along the journey to the market.
On the exchange and handling of AM related data, AMable has developed an eco-system for secure data transfer and documentation. An AMable IDS Data Connector has been implemented that allows secure and encrypted transfer of files between dedicated end-nodes. These dedicated end-nodes consist of small computing boxes with trusted digital certificates that are owned by members of the AMable Digital Data Chain. The perspective that this approach offers is the exchage of data between known end-nodes where the transfer is guided by collaboration contracts and a documentation of such transfers in the AMable Blockchain. With this solution, data is kept private between collaborating parties and transfer is documented for later proof of existence.
AMable has created the concept of running a community that will bring together people from entities that want to use or that want to extend their use of additive manufacturing. The aim is to continue with a technology and application agnostic offering that is free for people to join. From this community, companies can decide to go for a fast-track or for a full-service offering which then becomes commercial.
On the exchange and handling of AM related data, AMable has developed an eco-system for secure data transfer and documentation. An AMable IDS Data Connector has been implemented that allows secure and encrypted transfer of files between dedicated end-nodes. These dedicated end-nodes consist of small computing boxes with trusted digital certificates that are owned by members of the AMable Digital Data Chain. The perspective that this approach offers is the exchage of data between known end-nodes where the transfer is guided by collaboration contracts and a documentation of such transfers in the AMable Blockchain. With this solution, data is kept private between collaborating parties and transfer is documented for later proof of existence.
AMable has created the concept of running a community that will bring together people from entities that want to use or that want to extend their use of additive manufacturing. The aim is to continue with a technology and application agnostic offering that is free for people to join. From this community, companies can decide to go for a fast-track or for a full-service offering which then becomes commercial.
AMable has created a scheme to support SMEs in the uptake of AM across all stages from design to print to post process. It helps SMEs to focus on each task that is required to bring an idea to a viable solution that can be exploited commercially. The evolution of this so-called AMable Sevices Arena will accelerate the development of such products and avoid unnecessary work and expenses. It will enable SMEs to engage faster and with more success into additive manufacturing.
Once the data handling technology based on the Industrial Dataspace (IDS) has been developed and connected to the Blockchain based contract management, data transfer can be handled safely and directly between service partners. This will enhance trust in the collaboration on production for the digital world.
Once the data handling technology based on the Industrial Dataspace (IDS) has been developed and connected to the Blockchain based contract management, data transfer can be handled safely and directly between service partners. This will enhance trust in the collaboration on production for the digital world.