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  • UAS Additive Strategies Shows How Fast Drone Manufacturing Is Changing

    The recent UAS Additive Strategies online event, hosted by 3DPrint.com and Additive Manufacturing Research (AM Research), brought together leaders from across the additive manufacturing (AM) and drone industries to discuss one of the industry’s biggest challenges, how to manufacture drones at scale. Companies including EOS, HP, Prusa Research, Stratasys, Firestorm Labs, DrukArmy, and representatives from the U.S. Army shared how they see AM shaping the next generation of drone production.

    One theme that came up during the event was that scaling drone production will require more than simply adding more printers or producing more parts.

    “UAS leaders are borrowing from the automotive playbook. They’re looking at how the automotive industry achieved scale, precision, and repeatability, and asking how those same ideas can be applied to drones,” said David Krzeminski, Business Development Manager for Polymer at EOS, during the event’s keynote presentation. “Scale isn’t just about producing more parts. It’s multidimensional. Materials, software, manufacturing processes, and the broader ecosystem all need to work together to support drone production.”

    David Krzeminski, EOS, during the UAS Additive Strategies online event. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    Kilian Riplye, Director of Additive Manufacturing for Defense at Prusa Research, said desktop 3D printers are also changing how manufacturers think about scaling production.

    “One of the biggest advantages of additive manufacturing is flexibility. If one machine fails, you can swap it out and keep production running. Instead of relying on one large industrial system, manufacturers can add five, 10, 20, or even 100 printers as demand grows. For the cost of one high-end industrial machine, you can deploy around 40 production-ready Prusa printers,” Riplye pointed out.

    That challenge is becoming more urgent as drone production grows. Scott Dunham, Executive Vice President of Research at AM Research, said production volumes are expected to grow dramatically over the next decade, creating new opportunities for additive manufacturing.

    “In UAS, we’re talking about roughly 17 to 18 million drones being produced this year. That’s nearly 900 million parts, and we’re projecting that figure to approach 2 billion parts over the next decade,” Dunham said. “Geopolitical urgency, supply chain fragility, and regulatory uncertainty have all come together to make additive manufacturing a much more attractive solution than it was just a few years ago. Military adoption is fast-tracking additive manufacturing into the core of the drone market, but that’s important for the commercial sector as well because it establishes additive manufacturing in an entirely new way.”

    Scott Dunham from AM Research during the UAS Additive Strategies online event. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    As demand grows, speakers agreed that manufacturers will need production methods that can keep up with rapid design changes. Unlike many traditional manufacturing processes, 3D printing allows companies to update designs quickly without waiting for new tooling, making it well suited for drone production. Today, it’s already being used to manufacture end-use airframes, housings, brackets, ducts, sensor mounts, RF components, and lightweight structural parts.

    Emily Levin, Unmanned Systems Application Engineer at HP, said the company has seen that transition firsthand: “We saw early on that additive manufacturing would play a critical role in drones, so we built a dedicated UAS team to work closely with the industry,” Levin said. “Today, more than 30 OEMs are producing drones with HP technology, and we’ve gone from getting airframes into people’s hands to helping manufacturers scale to tens of thousands of drones. It’s not only possible—it’s commercially viable.”

    That rapid growth is also changing how drones are developed. Joris Peels, Executive Editor and Vice President of Consulting at 3DPrint.com and AM Research, said the industry has moved beyond simple innovation and into rapid product development.

    “Ukraine will probably make around eight million FPV drones this year. Costs have fallen from about $2,000 to roughly $180. That’s not just innovation anymore. It’s product development,” Peels said. “We’re seeing drones being developed for specific targets, specific ranges, and specific payloads. It’s really product development and market segmentation happening in real time.”

    Trio is the first commercial spinning-wing UAV with vertical take-off and landing capability, with up to two hours of stable hover. Image courtesy of Prusa Research.

    Dunham moderated a panel on tactical drones, which he called “one of the most relevant segments.” He asked the panelists what additive is offering, or could offer, this class of drone.

    “All the benefits of additive really apply – the rapid iteration, the mission-specific payloads, the lightweight structuring, the reducing tooling, the mitigation of traditional tooling costs,” said Conrad Smith, Global Director, Aerospace and Defense for Stratasys.

    James Humann, Mechanical Engineer, U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, said one of the first times he ever seriously used additive was to “put quadcopters in the hands of Marines.”

    “The most interesting result of combining additive manufacturing with UAVs was showing the Marines that they could modify these themselves,” Humann explained. “We would get feedback very quickly from war games, and they would want lighter payloads or whatever the case may be. We showed them that they could actually do this, you can make a simple CAD file or find an existing one on Thingiverse or wherever, and we can show you how to print this so that tomorrow, for the next exercise, you’ll have the modified drone that you want.”

    Alexandre Donnadieu, Chief Industrial Strategy Officer at KrateoSky, agreed with Smith, specifically on iteration velocity and being able to quickly modify and adapt the drones to what’s needed.

    “The speed of innovation is where I think additive manufacturing can make the biggest difference. I’ve seen in Ukraine big underground factories with a room filled with 3D printers that are running constantly. This is very exciting to see.”

    A panel on strategic drones, moderated by Howie Marotto, Principal ADDvisor® of Strategy and Integration, The Barnes Global Advisors, discussed getting to the next level of scaling additive for drones.

    “The application has grown from ‘Oh, that’s intriguing,’ to ‘That material has this capability, where does it fit into production?’ It has to be economical, and designed in accordance to that trade,” said Steve Fournier, Technical Director, Additive & Converging, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems. “Nobody cares about additive if it doesn’t serve the mission of the platform.”

    Ian Muceus, Firestorm Labs, at UAS Additive Strategies 2026. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    Ian Muceus, the Co-Founder and CTO of Firestorm Labs, mentioned looking at how additive can actually improve something that’s already pretty good, like a carbon fiber drone frame. It’s strong enough as is, but what happens if you break an arm off? The company used its DfAM and materials knowledge to create a frame “that’s a little more offset” and ended up being about 75g lighter than the original carbon fiber one.

    Neil Glazebrook, CEO of GBI Group LLC, says that additive is just another tool in the tool chest, like CNC machining, and that often, the decision to pick one technology over the other can come down to financial reasons. He mentioned really seeing additive “take over for drones” at the start of the Ukraine war, which I think is true for a lot of people.

    The final panel, moderated by Dave Dietrich, Director, Hardware Sales and Support, PADT, was about manufacturing on the edge. A perfect example was a 3D printed decoy antenna for drones that DrukArmy CEO Jake Volnov showed everyone.

    “You can’t just sit in the office and imagine that. You need to talk to the people in the fox holes,” he said.

    Dietrich noted that Ukraine has become a real world laboratory for rapid innovation and production, and asked the panelists what manufacturing practices should be reconsidered in light of this. Are all the extra requirements and regulations really necessary? What are some of the shortcuts? 

    “We have seen more desire for engineering demonstration, and data to support performance, but because these are unmanned, it’s far less stringent than if you were to try to put additive parts onto a commercial plane,” said Dan Fernback, Vice President, JuggerBot 3D, which works with drones in some of the higher UAS group numbers. “The bureaucracy is not totally eliminated, but it’s made it easier to move quickly.”

    Spencer Koroly, Business Development Operationalization Manager, Phillips Federal, said that for the lower UAS groups, they’re seeing more certifications for the electronics on drones than for the 3D printed airframes.

    “As far as doing course correction, what we’ve seen is we’re slowly moving towards the Ukrainian direction. Build something that fits the mission and meets the requirements, and then adapt very quickly on the mechanical components. But even for MRO components, the federal government has been pushing heavily toward the right to repair,” Koroly said.

    “There’s a big push towards getting replacement parts, get the equipment working again, and we’ll work through the certification on the back end if we need to.”

    Although much of the discussion focused on defense, speakers also emphasized that the commercial opportunity is expanding quickly. Matt Kremenetsky, Senior Research Analyst at AM Research, said some of the biggest opportunities may come from industries looking to improve worker safety.

    “Growing drone adoption through the end of this decade will likely be strongest in industries looking to reduce the number of workers exposed to dangerous jobs. That means inspecting power grids, bridges, nuclear facilities, mining operations, and oil and gas sites.”

    Matt Kremenetsky at UAS Additive Strategies 2026. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    According to AM Research, AM in drones represented roughly $140 million in 2025 and could approach $900 million by 2034, making drones one of the fastest-growing production markets for industrial 3D printing.

    The event covered every topic related to 3D printed UAVs. Speakers talked about everything from desktop 3D printers producing tactical drone parts to industrial metal additive manufacturing, along with distributed production, battlefield logistics, and supply chain resilience. For an industry looking for its next major production opportunity, many speakers made the case that drones are already it.

  • EBM Contract Manufacturer Zenith Tecnica Acquired by Ownership Group

    New Zealand-based Zenith Tecnica has been acquired by a new ownership group. The firm was an early Electron Beam Melting (EBM) pioneer and has played an outsized role in the region. And given New Zealand’s remoteness, MRO needs are more acute, and suppliers become more important than if you were in Europe, for example. Along with Ram3D, Zenith practically makes up the metal portion of the country’s additive industry.

    Especially given the firm’s location far away from the goings-on in the US and Europe, the company has done well. Zenith is making parts for Air New Zealand, has built adaptive tools for athletes, and has made over 260 parts for satellites. Especially in the medical, defense, space, and aviation sectors, Zenith’s acquisition is going to be an important moment for the local 3D printing industry. 

    The new owners want to scale the business further after seeing its revenue increase by 490% since 2020. Given that it is now fully using its six existing E-beam systems, the firm wants to grow through adding two more.

    The departing General Manager Heather Grace sated,

    “When I took ownership of Zenith after my tenure as General Manager, my goal was always to strengthen the business, continue to nurture and build our capable team, and ultimately transition it into the hands of owners who could drive its next stage of growth. I couldn’t be happier with where the company stands today and the opportunities that lie ahead. The rapid expansion of demand we are seeing has only been possible after years of relationship building and developing the technical prowess to become a name that is trusted time and time again, no matter the industry. For us, it’s not just about being the best at understanding the technology, but it’s about understanding the customer; their projects, their timeline, and what they need out of us as a manufacturing partner.”

    Grace will remain until August, and then be replaced. The company thinks that building on the Lanteris Space Systems (Intuitive Machines) satellite production partnership is one key element of further growth. Zenith has worked on the NASA’s Psyche mission, as well as the Space Development Agency’s Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 Tracking Layer. These are LEO coms and tracking networks key to US missile defense and communications. Additionally, the company hopes to do well with orthopaedic implants and guides.

    The new owners are Andrew Burgess and Blair Jordan. They have backgrounds at Boeing and at Amazon, as well as dairy manufacturing. New Managing Director Jordan said,

    “What we found at Zenith is rare. We’ve got a team that has earned trust across a mix of extremely highly regulated industries, all by positioning ourselves as an extension of our customers’ engineering and quality departments. Looking ahead, our goal is simple: focusing on scaling alongside our customers in a way that stays true to how we operate. That means continuing to invest in the capability behind the business, whether that is equipment, people, or floor space, so we can grow capacity without losing the speed and flexibility that our reputation has been built on.”

    The AS 9100 and ISO 13485-certified service will now enter into a crucial new phase. Personalities are important at small firms, forged by experience and teamwork. Cross-disciplinary integrated design and process improvement work requires a lot of collaboration. So the new management getting along with experienced employees is very important here. If the firm wanted to cut corners or do things radically differently, they’d also be in for a rough time. But, more money and gradual improvement would be a great way to keep the firm on its successful path.

    We also don’t know what kind of money the two partners have. Are they working with PE money, someone else’s money, or loans? That will also depend what kind of strategies seem attractive to them and what they would need to do. If it’s long-term money, theirs or someone else’s, this could be a great investment.

    Too short-termist, too greedy in thinking, or grand visions not rooted in 3D printing reality, on the other hand, will see the built-up trust in this key firm evaporate. But, if they manage their new investment well and for the long term, then it could become a continually profitable essential part of New Zealand’s defense, space, and aviation sectors. If it’s a prized bit of infrastructure that performs well and is focused on long-term performance, then this could be a spectacularly good investment indeed.

  • 3D Printed Packaging OEM XTPL Adds Another Japanese Customer

    These things can change at any moment nowadays, but the biggest economic story of the year might not be elevated energy prices, after all. Elevated prices for memory chips may end up being the most lasting trend to emerge in 2026.

    Share prices for chipmakers like Micron surged throughout H1 thanks to skyrocketing demand for memory and storage chips, a trajectory that led Apple to announce it would be raising prices on certain products. This is the immediate backdrop for another trend I’ve been writing about all year, the change in the semiconductor capital equipment (semicap) market that I’ve framed as an “insurrection”. The ability to design semiconductor devices in 2.5D/3D has led to innovations surrounding chipmakers’ fanned out and/or stacked packaging of memory dies and compute dies, creating an alternative (“System-in-a-Package”) to what had become the market standard (“System-on-a-Chip”).

    Chipmakers have experimented with a variety of methods, including additive manufacturing (AM), to execute their designs, and companies such as Poland’s XTPL have been the beneficiary. XTPL is an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of a printhead, the Ultra Precise Dispensing (UPD) module, as well as various printers leveraging the UPD, like the Delta Printing System (DPS). It has a portfolio of customers spanning from mainland China and Taiwan to Silicon Valley and, most recently, to Japan.

    After first announcing its entry into the Japanese market just last month, XTPL is already announcing that it has made a sale to a new customer in Japan, following work by XTPL and the unnamed Japanese company to validate the DPS process for electronics packaging. Notably, XTPL will also sell the customer “a dedicated laser system” that will enable printing of copper conductive paths.

    That’s similar to the work XTPL did as part of the previously announced sale into the Japanese market, implying growing demand from semicap OEMs for AM packaging capabilities. As I mentioned in my previous post on XTPL, the company’s business strategy is built around guiding customers through a clearly defined pathway from R&D to serial production, giving each initial sale (like the one at the focus of the present post) heightened potential to transform into repeat business of higher value hardware.

    In a press release about XTPL’s sale to a new Japanese customer shortly after its first-ever sale in Japan, XTPL’s CEO, Filip Granek, said, “We are pleased to announce another sale in the demanding Japanese market, particularly as this order comes from a new client and relates to a project entirely separate from the sale of the UPD module reported in June. In this case, the client has decided to purchase a DPS device, which will enable it to independently validate XTPL’s technology in its own R&D laboratory.

    “In our terminology, this marks the progression of a project with industrial deployment potential to the third stage of this process, following the successful completion of validation tests carried out jointly by the client and our laboratory in Wrocław. We therefore see a very important sign of the replicability of our commercial model: a second independent partner in Japan is advancing a project in the same strategic application area – yield management for HDI/UHD PCBs and semiconductor substrates used in advanced packaging for semiconductor technologies – using our copper nanoink. Japan remains one of the world’s most technologically advanced industrial markets, which is why another client engagement in this country is of particular importance for strengthening XTPL’s global brand.”

    Now, an especially interesting angle to the context described in the first couple of paragraphs is that shares for memory chipmakers have plummeted following their epic run in the first half of the year, echoing the sell-off in energy stocks (and futures) after a historically bullish Q1 for energy investors. This isn’t so surprising: while investors’ brains are conditioned to view chips as “tech,” memory chips are in fact cyclical commodities that tend to follow notoriously volatile boom-bust cycles.

    The interesting part, however, is that the genuine revolution going on in advanced chip packaging could in the long run help companies like Micron, SK Hynix, etc., avoid the turbulence of past memory boom phases. If chiplet design can enable relatively on-demand production of more customized chip architectures for major semiconductor customers, it could help semiconductor OEMs avoid growing production capacity beyond the market’s appetite.

    In fact, we’re already seeing companies like Google, Meta, and the like pivot towards developing their own custom AI chip architectures. The key is in ensuring that broadly accessible packaging solutions mature to meet customers where they’re at. XTPL’s activity throughout 2026 appears to be evidence that this is the strategy semicap OEMs are deploying.

    It’s certainly likely that the long-term floor for memory chips has permanently risen, but wider adoption of AM for advanced packaging could potentially keep the long-term price ceiling within reasonable limits, which would help suppliers avoid the demand destruction caused by scarcity-induced price spikes.

    Images courtesy of XTPL

  • 3D Printing News Briefs, July 9, 2026: RIMPAC 2026, Software, Housing, & More

    In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, Massivit continues its focus on aerospace and defense manufacturing, and Meltio is collaborating with Phillips Corporation for RIMPAC 2026. Moving on to software, AMIS introduced a direct connection to HP Multi Jet Fusion systems. We’ll finish with news about additive construction in Australia.

    Massivit Launches RapidWings Platform for Aerospace and Defense Manufacturing

    According to a new AM Research report, the market for additive manufacturing in drones could reach nearly $900 million by 2034. So it makes sense that Israeli large-format additive manufacturing (AM) leader Massivit has been undergoing a strategic refocus on the aviation, aerospace, and defense industries. Now, it’s taken things a step further with the launch of RapidWings, a new turnkey composite manufacturing platform designed to help aerospace and defense manufacturers save millions of dollars and months of production lead time. Massivit has seen increased demand for manufacturing services from the defense industry, and RapidWings will help with this. It’s a global network of regional Joint Manufacturing Alliance (JMA) partnerships with local, on-demand production facilities, which will embed the company’s proprietary Cast-in-Motion (CIM) technology to speed up composite tooling lead times. JMA partners will maintain operational control of their business and customer relationships, while adding the capability to accept more orders.

    “Defense is a necessity worldwide. By cutting manufacturing times, RapidWings’ proprietary technology could save defense and aeronautical companies months and millions,” said Massivit CEO Yossi Azarzar. “RapidWings marks a strategic milestone for Massivit as we pivot from providing industrial 3D printers to delivering a much-needed Defense manufacturing platform that overcomes bottlenecks and empowers manufacturers to scale.”

    RapidWings is already operational in Israel, and is working to scale its operations around the rest of the world.

    Phillips Corporation & Meltio Supporting NPS CAMRE at RIMPAC 2026

    The biennial Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) is the world’s largest international maritime exercise, meant to enhance interoperability, strengthen partnerships, and demonstrate readiness throughout IndoPacific. At this year’s event, which runs through July 31, Phillips Corporation will participate in support of the Naval Postgraduate School’s Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing Research and Education (CAMRE) experiment. It will deploy a containerized hybrid manufacturing system aboard the USS Essex in order to evaluate expeditionary production and repair capabilities in operational environments. The system is a Haas TM-1P CNC platform that’s integrated with Meltio Blue wire-laser metal deposition technology. By combining both additive and subtractive manufacturing in one platform and workflow, the system makes it possible to repair and restore worn parts, produce new metal parts, and perform precision machining much closer to the point of need in austere, distributed environments.

    Brian Kristaponis, President of Phillips Additive Manufacturing Solutions, said, “RIMPAC provides an opportunity to evaluate how advanced manufacturing can help solve real sustainment challenges for the fleet.

    “When critical parts are unavailable through traditional supply channels, the ability to manufacture or repair components closer to the point of need can help improve readiness and keep systems operational. We are honored to support the Naval Postgraduate School, CAMRE, FLEETWERX, and the U.S. Navy in this important effort.”

    AMIS Introduces Direct Multi Jet Fusion Connection with Pro + Runtime 3.5.1

    Software company AMIS, part of Hybrid Software Group, develops high-performance build-preparation software for industrial AM. It recently announced the release of AMIS Pro + Runtime version 3.5.1, which introduces a direct, production-ready connection to HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) systems. AMIS Pro uses Q*Nest technology to offer high-density nesting and efficient slicing, and a new file processing pipeline is at the core of this new release. In addition to a slew of fixes and improvements across nesting, slicing, and part handling, this latest version also enables the connection to MJF, along with a fully rewritten file healing engine to ensure more predictable, consistent results. The algorithm for file healing now includes automatic compliance checks that are aligned with HP requirements, which decreases the risk of geometry-related build failures. Users will get immediate visual feedback in the interface on parts that aren’t valid, can’t be repaired, and are acceptable, but not optimal. All told, this should help improve automation, reliability, and transparency.

    “v3.5.1 is an important milestone for AMIS. We’ve focused on solving one of the key challenges in additive production: making workflows not only efficient, but also predictable and trustworthy,” said Kris Binon, Managing Director of AMIS.

    ModuTek Overcoming Barriers in Rural Communities with 3D Printed Housing

    Home to roughly 4,000 people, Cobar is located in the heart of New South Wales. Like many other towns in Australia, it suffers from a lack of housing, and because it’s so rural, there are obstacles to addressing this, including the distance materials have to be delivered and a lack of skilled workers. Melbourne-based ModuTek hopes to overcome these barriers with a trial of its new 3D printing system. The team says it can print roofs and walls onsite, with some parts of the structure taking only four hours to complete. Once they chose Cobar as the first trial site to test the feasibility of their technology for rural housing, ModuTek reached out to local builder Peter Tegg. In turn, he introduced them to Traditional Owner and Wangaaypuwan Elder Tyrone “Uncle Tyrone” Griffiths, who was born in Cobar. His input as a community member has impacted the company’s design approach, and he wants to see more innovation like this supported in towns like Cobar. But, he also thinks that local management of housing is important in terms of addressing long-term housing needs. Overall, the trial has shown that 3D printing housing reduces the need for skilled labor, and that it can be done in rural areas.

    “Our focus was, can we in a very remote region build this innovative style of house in the actual location itself [in] Cobar?” Tegg said.

    “The reflection was being that if you can build it in Cobar, you can build it anywhere.”

  • Australia’s AMCRC Funds Titanium 3D Printing R&D

    In terms of the global economy’s presently existing state, there is no realistic path to economic resilience that doesn’t start with critical minerals security. This is a problem for pretty much every country other than China and its preferred trading partners.

    Notably, the heart of the problem lies more in a lack of processing capabilities than it does in a lack of mining activity. This is why the US, the EU, Japan, Australia, etc., are forming partnerships surrounding plans to build shared pools of critical mineral processing infrastructure. The general thrust of these efforts involves ensuring that no one nation in the overall alliance develops monopolistic control over any one of a growing list of minerals designated ‘critical’.

    Australia, which has recently started funding the first projects participating in the Additive Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (AMCRC), launched last year, should play a special role in this infrastructure buildup, given both its natural resource wealth and its location in the Indo-Pacific region. In demonstration of that potential, the AMCRC just announced support for an A$677,000 (~$467,000) joint research project between the University of Queensland and Aussie company Coogee Titanium, which leverages a patented method for processing titanium that requires less energy consumption than conventional methods.

    Coogee’s TiRO process is also specifically tailored towards AM and other advanced metal production techniques, including Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), and that overlap is the focus of the AMCRC project. Coogee and the University of Queensland will evaluate how parts made with PBF and HIP from titanium produced in Australia perform by comparison with titanium parts produced using legacy techniques.

    Titanium is something of a “sweet spot” metal for this kind of effort. While the titanium processing supply chain is dominated by China and Russia, control by the latter two nations is far less monopolistic than it is for materials like rare earths. This gives the NATO countries and their allies a less far-fetched opportunity to move the needle with collective action than is the case with rare earths and certain other critical metals.

    In a press release about Coogee Titanium’s collaboration with the University of Queensland on an AMCRC project surrounding titanium for advanced manufacturing processes including AM, Peter Duxson, Technical Director of Coogee Titanium, said, “This project is about proving that TiRO powder can meet the performance demands of advanced manufacturing while delivering cost and sustainability benefits. We’ve developed a unique production process and invested in multiple facilities here in Australia, and this research will help unlock its full commercial potential across both domestic and international markets.”

    The CTO of SPEE3D, Steven Camilleri, recently wrote a paper for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) in which he recommended that the nation adopt a framework to measure economic resilience. As I wrote in my post on that concept, I think it should be adopted across all the nations currently attempting to localize/de-risk their manufacturing supply chains. And, for all the reasons discussed above, I’ll now add that critical minerals would be a perfect starting point for any such endeavor.

    The thing lurking in the background of all the global geopolitical tension right now is the pause in the rare-earth dispute between the US and China, which is currently expected to end in November. That’s less than six months away, but that’s still a long enough timeframe where, under current conditions, it is essentially impossible to guess how everything will shake out.

    However, I think it would be unwise to place too much faith in the assumption that it will all just work out. This probably doesn’t mean that, come November, Western nations and their allies will suddenly find themselves completely cut off from Chinese critical mineral sources. But the days when you can just wait around for a few months and a given supply shortage will largely correct itself — I think those days are dwindling.

    Australia could be more indispensable than ever under those circumstances, though, as I repeatedly point out on this sort of topic, national resilience has to be a group effort, or it can’t succeed. The US, the EU, Japan, etc. need to step up their efforts to assist the buildout of Australia’s national manufacturing capabilities.

    Images courtesy of Coogee Titanium

  • Addidex Connect Event Draws Nearly 200 to 3D Makers Zone in Haarlem

    Amsterdam-based Addidex is focused on robotic large-format additive manufacturing, and recently held a two-day symposium that was only about robots printing things. Addidex Connect brought 170 additive folks to the 3D Makers Zone in Haarlem, the Netherlands. The event is probably a miss for many in the additive community, but if you’re working in large-format DED or material extrusion, the small show is a crucial one on your calendar. We like such focused shows, and think that this approach is much more viable than a national show that tries to mix together very different technologies, customer groups, and sellers. Diverse events are hard to sustain, while specialized ones, if you’re frugal, provide a lot of value.

    The show was for systems integrators who come from the robotics world, as well as customers, software firms, engineers, and everyone else in this vertical. The show wants to be a very practical one based around collective problem solving. Subjects included exploring “the relationship between design and toolpath logic (including multi-axis and non-planar strategies), material behaviour at scale, adaptive fabrication, software workflows, circular feedstocks—such as bio-based polymers and recycled marine plastics—process control, and the transition from prototypes to reliable production.” Given the different behaviors of parts, designs, and machines when you go big, this kind of thing is more important than at other scales, especially in materials and toolpathing.

    Conference founder Michael John Sweers said, “Robotic 3D printing has no shortage of talent or ambition. What it needs is more connection between the people shaping it. Too often, valuable knowledge stays within one discipline, one machine or one company. These two days showed what becomes possible when people speak openly about both what works and what still does not.”

    The show was at the 3D Makers Zone, which is a collective space for several firms to work together and already houses a number of robot printing companies. There were speakers from Nagami, Noumena, Caracol, TU Delft, and more. The show is unabashedly technical and aims to foster collaboration. Companies such as MX3D, CEAD, and More Than Layers supported the event. The next installment is already planned for the 22nd and 23rd of July, 2027.

    We reached out to Sweers to learn more. He told 3DPrint.com,

    “What surprised me most was the willingness to share. We had direct competitors in the same room, yet the spirit was genuinely collaborative. There was a shared understanding that this industry will only move forward if we do it together. All these individual specialists, the so-called lonely wolves, became a pack for two days. I already believed there was room for a dedicated event in such a niche field, but this edition proved it. Robotic additive manufacturing is a growing part of the wider AM industry, and there is a real appetite for a place where practitioners can speak openly, connect directly and build trust.”

    Given the success of the event this year, what does he expect for next year?

    “Next year, I expect even more practitioners to get involved, but I also want the event to become more hands-on. I see dedicated stages for concrete, metal and plastics, alongside workshops where people can work directly on the integrations and problems they have been discussing. The knowledge is there. The willingness is there. So why not build things together on the spot? Imagine connecting Animaquina with ABB during the event, testing it, breaking it, improving it and learning from it together. Less talking about what could be possible; more making it happen. That is what I want Addidex Connect to become: the ultimate practitioners’ event.”

    I love this so much, and I love the pictures by Canelita Estudio as well. The character of this event is very different than many others. None of the colorful desktop displays, but also none of the DMLS formality either. And by hosting it not in a hotel, but in a working collective lab where people make things, it will have a very different character as well. I really believe that frugal, well-appointed, specific events that cater well to a specific user group have a bright future. A kind of academic conference that’s not just about papers, but also about the concrete floor. And sure the commercial players are there, but it’s focused on sharing and solving problems. I really think that this is a great initiative, and hope to be able to make it next year.

  • The Drone Economy Needed a Scalable Manufacturing Backbone. ADDMAN Built One

    When ADDMAN closed its acquisition of Forecast 3D in January 2026, the headlines focused on fleet size and Southern California footprint. Six months later, those metrics feel almost beside the point. What’s actually happening inside ADDMAN is something harder to quantify, but far more significant: the company scaled to become a critical manufacturing artery for the fastest-growing segment in defense: unmanned systems.

    The drone economy isn’t coming. It’s here. From loitering munitions and tactical ISR platforms to autonomous resupply vehicles, the U.S. defense establishment is fielding affordable unmanned systems at a pace that has left traditional manufacturing pipelines gasping. Program timelines that once stretched years are now measured in months. Part geometries that couldn’t exist in traditional manufacturing are being printed overnight in high-performance polymers. And the manufacturers who can move at that tempo – who can go from CAD file to flight-ready component without a supplier handoff – are the ones getting the calls.

    The Drone Economy calls, ADDMAN is answering

    The integration of Forecast 3D’s Carlsbad operations added more than MJF and SLS capacity. It created a continuous production environment in Southern California where drone OEMs and defense primes can prototype, iterate, bridge-produce, and affordably scale under a single program relationship. That continuity, rare in a fragmented AM services market, is proving decisive for customers who can’t afford the friction of supplier transitions mid-program.

    Close-up of a multirotor unmanned aircraft equipped with a payload, representative of the rapidly expanding drone platforms driving demand for additive manufacturing. Image courtesy of ADDMAN.

    Drone Programs Can’t Afford Bottlenecks

    That continuity also carries significant supply chain implications. Defense programs for unmanned systems have long been vulnerable to single-source dependencies and long lead times for specialized components, vulnerabilities that adversaries and auditors alike have flagged as strategic risks. ADDMAN’s integrated model directly addresses this exposure. By consolidating prototyping, bridge production, and volume manufacturing under one roof, the company reduces the number of handoffs where schedules slip and quality escapes. For drone OEMs managing aggressive fielding timelines, that compression of the supply chain isn’t a convenience — it’s a mission-critical requirement. As the Department of War continues pushing primes to demonstrate supply chain resilience, manufacturers like ADDMAN that can serve as a stable, domestic, single-source node for complex additive components are increasingly viewed not just as vendors, but as strategic partners.

    From Prototype Supplier to Production Partner

    What’s changed in six months isn’t just operational. The nature of the demand has shifted. ADDMAN is no longer quoting one-off prototype runs for defense customers. It’s embedded in production programs, printing structural housings, thermal management components, and payload enclosures that are going directly into fielded systems. The volume is growing exponentially, and the part complexity is growing with it.

    A drone transports a suspended payload during testing, illustrating the type of unmanned systems increasingly supported by ADDMAN’s additive manufacturing capabilities. Image courtesy of ADDMAN.

    Building Capacity For What’s Next

    CEO Joe Calmese is unwavering in his vision for where this is heading: ADDMAN isn’t building toward a finish line; it’s building infrastructure for a manufacturing era that’s still accelerating.

    With over 550 employees operating across a network of 8 sites nationwide – delivering on 170+ additive systems. 120+ CNC assets, and 26 injection molding machines – ADDMAN’s Forecast 3D bet looks less like an acquisition and more like a foundation.

  • Phillips Corporation Rebrands Additive Hybrid Division, Now Called Phillips Advanced Manufacturing

    Phillips Corporation announced that it will rebrand its Additive Hybrid division to become Phillips Advanced Manufacturing. The focus will now be on advanced manufacturing in the broadest sense. Brian Kristaponis will run the division of the company, focusing on, “hybrid, standalone additive, and deployable manufacturing systems.”

    This seems like it could be a very sensible move for the firm. Many companies only focus on one additive technology, or just polymer or metal. But, by looking at possible hybrid manufacturing, manufacturing cells, and different 3D printing solutions, the company can deliver on the right solution in a more holistic way. Rather than just try to pigeonhole everything into LPBF or make Material Extrusion fit, it can talk with authority about possible different solutions. This is a very mature way of looking at things. This will, in my opinion, build up more longstanding relationships with partners.

    Brian Kristaponis, the newly anointed President of Phillips Advanced Manufacturing Solutions, said,

    “This rebrand reflects a fundamental shift in how manufacturing is evolving. Our customers are increasingly focused on how technologies come together to improve flexibility, resilience, and speed. Phillips Advanced Manufacturing Solutions positions us to lead in that environment, bringing together a broad ecosystem of technologies, partners, and expertise to deliver integrated manufacturing solutions while continuing to support the critical equipment that powers production.”

    More people are also looking for deployable cells that offer, for example, DED, scanning, and machining in one unit, in order to speed up part production, reduce conveyancing, and reap efficiencies. We know that an awful lot of turbine blades are made in this way. Especially if space is at a premium, or you want as little handling as possible, these solutions make a lot of sense.

    The unit will look at additive and subtractive cells, large-format additive, expeditionary manufacturing, consulting on such issues as applications engineering, and 3D printers themselves. Again, by integrating solutions with application development, Phillips can speed up customer development, sell faster, and have them integrate faster. As we keep saying, 3D printing lacks systems integrators. By acting like a systems integrator, the firm can accelerate and de-risk additive adoption for customers.

    John Harrison, the President of Phillips Global Additive, said,

    “Advanced manufacturing is reshaping how products are designed, built, and sustained across nearly every industry, Our customers look beyond individual machines. They want trusted partners who can help them evaluate technologies, integrate complete solutions, and support them long after installation. Phillips Advanced Manufacturing Solutions represents that broader mission. Brian has been instrumental in building this organization, strengthening strategic partnerships, and helping customers successfully implement advanced manufacturing technologies. His leadership has positioned this division for continued growth, and I am excited to see him lead its next chapter as President.”

    The company now offers Meltio’s W-LMD, wire arc additive from Fronius, DED with powder and wire from Korean firm InssTek, and WAAM from bridge builders MX3D. This is a particularly strong DED offering, allowing them to make large-scale structures with MX3D, complete robotic cell-based wire manufacturing with Meltio, and do powder mixing for applications like armor with Insstek, while also having a super accessible unit for forward-deployed-ish DED with Fronius.

    If I got this right, the rest of the firm will offer Markforged, EOS, Solukon, and the existing solutions. So it’s kind of a split between the people who will things stuff in Pittsburgh, and those who will spent their time at rather smallish interesting airports going camping. Recently, the unit got a contract for containerized Haas and Meltio units with the Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) Additive Manufacturing Project Office, so that dovetails well with this approach.

    Kristaponis said,

    “The conversation around advanced manufacturing has changed, Organizations are no longer asking whether these technologies are viable; they’re asking how to successfully implement them to improve productivity, strengthen supply chains, and manufacture closer to the point of need. Our role extends well beyond delivering equipment. We help customers evaluate applications, integrate technologies into production environments, train their workforce, and provide ongoing support to ensure long-term success.”

    This again seems like the right path forward. I think that more resellers and consultancies should operate like Phillips. By being a solution-focused, one-stop-shop with an offering across price points, the company can really advise clients while speeding up adoption. De-risking is the key element to engendering and accelerating additive adoption. The challenges on paper may be budget or isotropy and the like, but in reality, it’s trust and risk. And yes, there’s risk to a plane falling out of the sky of course, but so few people pay attention to risk at the company, risk to careers, budgets, and business units. By making it easier to offset risks, know the risks, and overcome institutional resistance, we can make it less risky to be the point man for additive in a firm. Understanding this and helping companies go faster will lead to success for you and your client, and I think that is what Phillips is doing here.

  • The Drone Industry is Showing Where 3D Printing Delivers Real Value, AM Research Report Finds

    The rapid rise of drones is creating one of the biggest opportunities for additive manufacturing (AM). Whether they’re used on battlefields, inspecting bridges or crops, or delivering supplies, drones need to be lighter, easier to customize, and quicker to produce. This is partially why drones have become one of the biggest opportunities for 3D printing.

    That’s one of the main conclusions of a new Additive Manufacturing Research (AM Research) report, Additive Manufacturing Opportunities in Unmanned Aerial Systems 2026: Drones Market Analysis and Forecast, which explores how 3D printing is moving into drone production. Rather than simply identifying a fast-growing market, the report argues that drones have become one of the clearest examples of where AM creates real value.

    AM Research explored many of those findings during its recent UAS Additive Strategies online event, where industry leaders discussed how to scale drone production. Scott Dunham, Executive Vice President of Research at AM Research, explained why more companies are turning to additive manufacturing.

    “In UAS, we have the recipe for both a significant market opportunity and one that could change the dynamics of additive manufacturing. Geopolitical urgency, supply chain fragility, and regulatory uncertainty have all come together to make additive manufacturing a much more attractive solution than it was just a few years ago,” said Dunham. “Military adoption is fast-tracking additive manufacturing into the core of the drone market, but that’s important for the commercial sector as well because it establishes additive manufacturing in a new way.”

    Unlike traditional manufacturing, 3D printing doesn’t require expensive tooling or high production volumes. That makes it a natural fit for drones, where designs change quickly, and aircraft are often built for specific missions or customers. Instead of using 3D printing only for prototypes, manufacturers are now producing end-use parts, including airframes, housings, brackets, ducts, sensor mounts, RF components, and lightweight structural components. According to AM Research, drones have become the largest production application for low-cost 3D printers worldwide.

    Additive UAS market. Image courtesy of AM Research.

    Defense has become one of the biggest drivers behind that shift

    Modern conflicts have shown how quickly drones can change. New equipment, changing missions, and constant design updates put pressure on manufacturers to build and improve drones faster. In many cases, waiting weeks or months for new tooling is just not practical. Instead, manufacturers can update a digital design, print new parts, test them, and move into production much faster than with traditional manufacturing.

    Speaking during the UAS Additive Strategies event, David Krzeminski, Business Development Manager for Polymer at EOS, said the industry’s biggest challenge is no longer designing better drones but figuring out how to manufacture them at scale.

    “The next drone race will be won in manufacturing. You could argue that the bottleneck isn’t drone design. It’s the manufacturing side. Every talk you go to, every industry leader you hear speaks about scaling up. That’s the challenge, and it includes every part of the manufacturing process.”

    Joris Peels, 3DPrint.com & AM Research during the UAS Additive Strategies online event. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.

    Joris Peels, Executive Editor & VP of Consulting at 3DPrint.com and AM Research, took that idea a step further, arguing that the future opportunity isn’t simply building more drones, but giving countries the ability to manufacture them quickly themselves.

    “What we should be doing is not necessarily selling drones. We should be selling drone factories,” Peels said. “We should be selling these factories so that the military can, at scale, produce the drones it needs and designs. We should be thinking more like a YouTube of drones—a way to really quickly update these designs and these technologies.”

    The same advantages extend well beyond defense

    Commercial drone manufacturers serving industries such as energy, agriculture, construction, mining, logistics, and infrastructure inspection also face frequent design changes and relatively low production volumes. Rather than building millions of identical aircraft, many produce specialized platforms optimized for specific applications, making flexible manufacturing an important competitive advantage.

    As drones become more sophisticated, manufacturers also need to update designs more often. New sensors, AI-enabled capabilities, communications equipment, and mission-specific payloads often require rapid hardware updates that traditional manufacturing processes struggle to support.

    UAS report. Image courtesy of AM Research.

    According to AM Research, the market for additive manufacturing in drones reached approximately $140 million in 2025 and could approach $900 million by 2034. While that growth is significant, the report suggests the bigger story may be what drones reveal about additive manufacturing itself.

    That long-term opportunity was also a recurring theme during the UAS Additive Strategies event. Krzeminski said that scaling drone manufacturing won’t depend on a single technology, but on combining the strengths of different production methods.

    “The next drone factory will be a blend of automotive efficiency, additive flexibility, and aerospace reliability. We also need to redefine what scale means. It’s not only about high-volume production. Scale also means mission assurance, reducing risk, and giving manufacturers confidence that they can produce the parts they need when they need them.”

    Few industries combine so many of technology’s strengths in one application. Drones are a natural fit for AM and may prove to be one of its biggest opportunities yet.

    The full report is available from AM Research and examines AM adoption across drone hardware, materials, applications, regions, and vendors, and includes market forecasts through 2034.

  • The Longevity Economy Needs a Factory

    Longevity has become one of the biggest stories in healthcare. Every week seems to add a new announcement about an anti-aging therapy, an AI-powered drug discovery platform, or a startup trying to extend how long we live. Investors have poured billions into companies working on everything from cellular rejuvenation to gene therapy. Governments are also preparing for rapidly aging populations that will reshape healthcare systems over the next decades.

    But longevity is not just creating demand for new treatments. It is also creating demand for manufacturing. If people begin living longer and staying healthier for more years, they will not simply need more medicine. They will need more healthcare products, implants, dental restorations, hearing aids, surgical guides, rehabilitation devices, and so much more. And more of those products will need to be customized for each patient. That change could become one of the biggest business opportunities for additive manufacturing.

    Featured rendering courtesy of 3DPrint.com: Concept rendering of a patient-specific 3D printed orthopedic implant, one of the fastest-growing applications of additive manufacturing in healthcare.