Localised manufacture? Check. Consolidation of parts? Check. Decreased supply chain risk? Check. On paper, additive manufacturing (AM) represents the perfect antidote to the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs announced on Wednesday. But is it really that simple?
When the pandemic hit, there was a lot of talk around 3D printing being the silver bullet in supply chain resilience. But lessons learned from 3D printed face shields, and temporary shifts to AM production runs didn't translate to large-scale adoption as hoped.
The impacts of this week's announcement, which will impose taxes on finished goods and materials coming into the United States, are already being gravely felt as stock markets plunge and countries announce retaliatory measures on US exports. But senior leaders and experts in the AM space are sensing there might be an opportunity here to leverage AM's unique capabilities to make good on those supply chain promises and mitigate substantial tariffs.
In a conversation with Brigitte de Vet Veithen earlier this week for an upcoming episode of TCT's Additive Insight podcast, the Materialise CEO said there is potential for AM in helping companies to localise their capabilities - which Materialise already put this into practice in 2023 with the opening of a medical 3D printing facility in the US to accelerate the delivery of patient-specific medical implants - and contend with geopolitical changes.
"I think additive has a great role to play there," de Vet Veithen said. "It's an opportunity for the industry and our users. Because additive is great at localising production, additive is great in small or lower volume productions, and with the tendency to localise production more, I think additive could be a great solution."
Professor Jennifer Johns, Director of Research at the University of Bristol, whose work focuses on digital technologies and value chains, has long advocated that additive’s role in supply chain disruption is actually much more nuanced, with a mix of reshoring, distributed manufacturing and dual sourcing poised as a more likely solution as opposed to AM as a singular supply chain cure all. However, Johns believes, in light of these new tariffs, this could be a moment for greater AM adoption.
"Anything, including tariffs, that creates uncertainty and unevenness in the global economy expands opportunities for AM adoption," Johns said. "The flexibility of AM gives it a competitive edge in contexts where the cost and timing of overseas production is changeable and increasingly complicated."
Though additive can help with those complexities, Johns caveats that it isn't as straightforward as shifting production from one location to another.
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"Supply chains are extremely complex so the wholesale relocation of production to economies such as the US (through ‘reshoring’) is challenging and still unlikely," Johns said. "It is not as simple as moving production of X from country Y to country Z, rather the relocation of tiers of component manufacture in national territories. If AM can reduce the number of component suppliers for any product/component it will make relocation of its production significantly easier. We know many examples of this, typically motivated by weight and material reduction, but tariffs could drive more serious consideration of the geographical footprint of production."
Robert Higham, CEO of UK metal AM solutions company Additive Manufacturing Solutions, feels the UK should use this new trade landscape to foster its own capabilities and build a strong foundation for UK-based manufacturing.
"In chaos comes opportunity is our first thought here at AMS," Higham told TCT. "We are waiting and observing with some ideas and conversations underway with our international partners of course on how we can protect and benefit our organisation and our customers. What the international trade situation does highlight is the need for a resilient UK supply of services, support, product and material."
AMS is already making inroads in recent partnerships with UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) and Rolls-Royce which, in a UK first, has seen the company successfully apply recycled materials from retired Tornado aircraft to build new parts for the next-generation Tempest fighter jets.
"I would promote the uncertainty as an opportunity to look inward at what we already have in the UK and how we can be self sufficient, should we need to," Higham continued. "Growing a strong UK supply base and capability needs investment, collaboration and support and it needs this at pace. Will this global situation bring about a new united manufacturing base for the UK, in the UK? We certainly aim to help that become reality."
For Tuan Tranpham, an AM veteran who has spent the last two decades at several additive OEMs, believes the moves, which aim to incentivise US-based manufacturing operations and rebuild the US economy, should encourage more US manufacturers to explore AM for tooling applications, which are typically outsourced an can incur long lead times, and seek "production and automation opportunities." Tranpham, who currently serves as President of Americas and Asia Pacific for Anisoprint, a composite 3D printer manufacturer, which moved its HQ to China last year, also pointed to the rise of China-based additive OEMs, which have dominated multi-laser metal and desktop machine segments recently, and will face high tariffs under the new policies.
"The increase of the already high tariff is a huge inconvenience, as most see USA as an amazing growth region," Tranpham said. "This will further decrease appetite product roadmap for mid-range printers and redirects to even better and stronger prosumer printers below $5,000 and innovative high-end and high value production printers."
Tranpham also suggests a need for such companies to "explore ways to add production locations in EU or inside USA for the most healthy vertical for AM which is government/military/space/defense in general."
Filip Geerts, Director General of CECIMO, the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries and related Manufacturing Technologies says the news will awaken interest in reshoring and supply chain resilience and believes AM could offer "real strategic value", particularly as manufacturers begin to think differently about new opportunities it can afford.
"By enabling localised, on-demand production of end-use parts, AM could help manufacturers avoid some of import duties, reduce lead times, and respond more flexibly to market shifts. While often underutilised, today’s additive technologies can deliver functional tooling and production-ready components faster and more cost-effectively than traditional methods," Geerts told TCT. "Nevertheless, rather than a silver bullet, AM is a powerful enabler within a broader manufacturing strategy. As tariffs continue to evolve, forward-thinking manufacturers will leverage enabling technologies such as AM not just to mitigate disruption, but to gain competitive advantage. The current environment is not just a challenge—it’s an opportunity to rethink how and where we make things."
Digital inventories, bolstered by the idea of sending design files, not parts, in theory, provide opportunities for manufacturers to minimise warehousing and produce parts as and when they are needed. We've seen this actioned in heavy industries such as oil and gas and maritime, where long lead times, exacerbated by harsh environments and geographical challenges, have been overcome by the creation of digitised supply chains supported by additive-enabled manufacturing networks, like that of Pelagus 3D, which aims to be the 'Amazon of the sea' and the DNV, which recently announced digital inventory and AM recommendations to energy sector to cut costs and improve efficiencies. Siemens, which, through its Siemens Digital Industries Software business, is heavily invested in advancements in the so-called digital thread, a technology designed to provide connectivity across the end-to-end manufacturing chain for such digital manufacturing processes, provided the following statement: "With our global presence, we have already localised our production significantly. We are closely monitoring how tariffs are being implemented. As a global company, we support better market access."
After decades of pledges about decentralised and on-demand manufacture - which AM is by no means short of, with companies like Daimler establishing remote spare parts solutions and wind turbine manufacturer Vestas building out distributed AM networks - could these tariffs be the next big motivator the AM industry needs to fully realise its potential? Tali Rosman, a recognised AM expert and advocate for the use of AM to drive supply chain resiliency and sustainability, believes the reality is a mixed bag. In 2022, the previous Biden Administration launched AM Forward, a program designed support the reshoring of manufacturing and increase the utilisation of AM by SMEs. While largely celebrated at the time as a positive move that brought additional attention to AM, some felt it might be yet another case of inflating expectations, a fate the industry had already suffered from, extending from its consumer hype days to the supply chain disruptions of 2020. Rosman says this week's announcements require similar reservation.
"Yes, additive manufacturing can certainly help mitigate the impact of tariffs by accelerating localised production. It’s faster and more flexible to deploy AM capabilities than to set up traditional manufacturing plants, making it an attractive - and rapid - route for reshoring to reduce reliance on imports," Rosman told TCT. "However, we should temper expectations. AM isn’t, in spite of what many think, plug-and-play. AM still requires investment, expertise, and infrastructure - not only for the printers, but also for post-processing."
Rosman points to ongoing challenges around certification, regulatory approvals, and quality assurance that have long hindered AM's adoption, and cautions that we shouldn't get too excited while those hurdles remain in place.
"While AM offers a strategic advantage by enabling rapid, agile local manufacturing, it isn't a magic cure," Rosman said. "Tariffs might create a compelling event to accelerate solving for certification, etc. - but we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves."
