AdditiveIQ, TCT's new invitation-only networking retreat for senior additive manufacturing (AM) professionals, is built on a simple idea: that the most useful learning in this industry comes from conversation between the people doing the work.
Next June, we'll be bringing 250 AM users together at an estate in Windsor, UK, to have those conversations across three days.
The concept has been tested at TCT's UK User Group for the last three years. Users from different sectors have met at our User Group events to share problems and provide solutions.
Three people who have experienced these events first-hand are Steve Cox [SC], a 3D technologist consultant and member of the TCT Advisory Group; Luke Fox [LF], Technical Specialist for Additive at JLR; and Alex Champion [AC], who works with the UK Ministry of Defence.
Last month, they joined TCT at the location of AdditiveIQ to explain what they have taken from previous User Group events, why the AM industry needs something new, and why they are backing AdditiveIQ.
What is your history with TCT?
SC: I'm a 3D technologist consultant. I've been involved with TCT for more than 12 years, in all aspects. So I've been an attendee. I've stood on exhibition stands at TCT, and I'm proud to say that I'm now part of the TCT advisory group that's involved with putting this event together.
LF: So my history with TCT is, I think I started attending TCT as a visitor back in 2014 and I don't think I missed one. So that was a good record. And then I've been attending the user group for the last couple of years as well.
AC: My history with TCT goes back several years. Firstly, as an exhibitor when I was working in manufacturing initially, but now working with the UK Ministry of Defence, we've had an increasingly collaborative relationship with TCT really over the last three years, working with them on both events as well as just wider industry engagement and promotion of additive manufacturing.
"We need something fresh, something to invigorate the industry and make more connections between people."
Why does the AM industry need something new?
SC: I think we all need to collaborate much more closely to get the best out of it, and maybe exhibitions now aren't a way to do that. We need something fresh, something to invigorate the industry and make more connections between people.
AC: The status quo up until now via trade shows and exhibitions has been really good at growing additive manufacturing understanding, but now that we have a good understanding, I think that there's real value in having better collaboration between sectors to really help accelerate the knowledge and improve just lessons learned from collaboration.
What has the TCT UK User Group shown us about the value of conversation between AM users?
SC: We've seen the value through the user group over the last three sessions that we've had in bringing people together and discussing their mutual use of additive manufacturing, share ideas, share problems, and I think we're starting to see now that people are willing to come forward with their solutions, share them with other people for the good of the community.
LF: I think it's quite easy for someone like myself to go and talk to suppliers or even competitors, but when you really want to solve a problem, if you can go and talk to a non-competitor that you have got similar sorts of problems, but in a completely different part of the industry, you can really get a quick answer and a better answer.
AC: The TCT User Group has shown us a huge amount about the value of conversation between users. And I can specifically think of an event two years ago where we saw vehicle manufacturers and defence primes talking really collaboratively with additive manufacturing companies, both bureaus and parts suppliers, but also machine manufacturers and machine providers talking about problems that they had and solutions that they'd been able to solve and things they'd been able to overcome as a result of that. And for me, that's a really valuable next step in just professionalisation and acceleration of additive in the UK.
"The best way forward for us to develop AM even quicker is having shared discussions."
What are the biggest challenges facing the AM industry today?
LF: I think the biggest problems facing the AM industry cost is always one, and we're always gonna keep on going back to that, but it's how do you identify where your resource is best placed? So what do I use additive on and what don't I use additive on?
Why are you supporting AdditiveIQ?
SC: So why am I supporting AdditiveIQ? I really see this as a valuable community event where we can bring lots of users together to share their experiences of using additive manufacturing and bring together solutions from different verticals where people have already developed maybe a solution that someone in a different vertical has been looking for for a long time.
LF: The reason I'm supporting AdditiveIQ is that the best way forward for us to develop AM even quicker is having shared discussions to try and get similar answers across the industry.
Why the AM industry needs AdditiveIQ by Laura Griffiths
