ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE), in collaboration with various industry partners, has launched the AM CoE Additive Manufacturing Certification Committee (AMCC) initiative. The AMCC is exclusively composed of representatives from AM end-users.
The mission of ASTM’s Additive Manufacturing Certification Committee is to unite key stakeholders from diverse industry sectors to develop audit criteria for qualifying AM supply chains. This development will be based on internationally recognized standards and industry best practices. Over the past year, committee members from the aerospace, defense, medical, and transportation sectors have worked together to create standardized audit criteria for qualifying AM facilities. The first version of these criteria is nearing completion.
“The work of the AMCC enables a better understanding of the capabilities of additive manufacturing suppliers amidst the rapid growth of providers in this technology area,” says Melissa Orme, Vice President of Additive Manufacturing at The Boeing Company.
The founding committee currently includes 23 members, such as Ford Motor Company, Lockheed Martin, and Johnson & Johnson. A complete list of members can be found on the AMCC website.
“The efforts of the Additive Manufacturing Certification Committee stand to benefit our industry. The AMCC provides a great platform for end users across multiple sectors to collaboratively address common qualification challenges in additive manufacturing,” says Joseph Murphy, Associate Fellow at Lockheed Martin.
Multi-industry participation in AMCC brings best practices from major industry sectors for the qualification and certification of parts production. The audit criteria created by the AMCC aim to satisfy multi-industry requirements and can be used by organizations to qualify their suppliers or internal AM facilities.
“Developing certification criteria is a detailed and resource-intensive process, but the resulting value for our organization and the industry as a whole will be substantial,” notes Eddie Kavanagh, Senior Principal Engineer at Johnson & Johnson. “The AM CoE, along with ASTM International, has created a program that will deliver significant benefits, and we are glad to contribute to this endeavor.”
The AMCC is responsible for developing, deploying, and maintaining the audit criteria and managing the certification program.
“Establishing a standardized certification for Additive Manufacturing (AM) service providers will help streamline industry efforts to develop a robust AM supply chain,” says Paul Wolcott, Senior Engineer for Additive Manufacturing at General Motors. “We look forward to providing an automotive-industry voice as the AMCC works to develop its requirements.”
The AMCC will continue to advance comprehensive checklists for additive manufacturing, bringing together industry leaders to evolve the field and ensure robust and reliable supply chains.
The ASTM AM CoE offers certification programs that complement the AMCC by covering the entire additive manufacturing value chain, providing a comprehensive certification framework. Existing certification programs include the Additive Manufacturing Quality Certification (AMQC) for process quality assurance, the Additive Manufacturing Operator Certification (AMOC) for qualified operators of metal laser powder bed fusion machines, and the Additive Manufacturing Facility Safety Certification (AMFSC) for ensuring a safe and compliant facility.
