The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) has released a white paper that highlights the numerous initiatives it oversees that have resulted in rapid advances in the capabilities, performance, and impact of additive manufacturing (AM). Through exploring several recent technology innovation projects, the paper establishes how NCMS is supporting the technical foundation needed to transition AM from a technology useful for individual, custom-designed parts into a scalable manufacturing and supply-chain capability for the defense industrial base and the broader US manufacturing sector.

The white paper, “Recent Advances in Additive Manufacturing Accelerated through NCMS Initiatives,” details three broad areas of achievement:

• Advancing AM methods, processes, and materials
• Improving upon AM’s repeatability, performance, and quality assurance
• Transforming the impact AM has on manufacturing and sustainment of high-value assets