The Additive Manufacturing CRC (AMCRC) held its 2026 Additive Manufacturing Forum in Adelaide with about 200 attendees. Panels agreed that Australia does research well but must commercialise more, with clearer demand signals from government and more local industrial capacity such as powder production. The event comes as the country prepares for submarine work and faces a weakening manufacturing base.
What did AMCRC report after its first year?
AMCRC, led by Simon Marriott, has built a network of 70 industry partners and 12 universities and funded its first projects. These include wear-resistant coatings, anatomical tooth replicas and local titanium powder production. In the dental project, Fusetec 3D and Adelaide University turn CT scans into realistic printed models so dentists can train molar removal. Fusetec already uses Stratasys J750 systems for surgical training models.
What did the panels say about capacity?
A panel with representatives of submarine builder ASC, Adelaide University, ARM Hub and UTS, and Defence SA agreed that Australia is strong in research but weak in commercialisation. Panelists called for clearer demand signals from government, especially for smaller firms, and for more industrial capacity, for example in powder making.
Which warnings came from the capability session?
In the Australia Makes session, Professor Shruti Sardeshmukh urged the sector to replace general claims such as lower material use with lifecycle evidence. Professor Milan Brandt said the pathway matters more than the printer: whether a part can be inspected, cleaned, qualified and repeated, and whether someone will buy it. Dr Daniel East separated qualification from certification, and Professor Andrew Ang named testing, qualification and supply chain as the valley of death for Australian AM projects. Materialise and Fraunhofer IAPT ran a DfAM training day before the forum.
What it means
The themes are familiar to European manufacturers: the hard part is not the printer but the path of inspection, qualification and supply chain, and small firms need visible demand before investing. Lifecycle evidence instead of generic sustainability claims is also a useful standard for any business case. This continues the earlier AddiWire report on the AMCRC research hub in South Australia, showing how its funding is being steered toward commercial capacity.
Frequently asked questions
What is the AMCRC?
The Additive Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre is a research and implementation organisation led by Simon Marriott. It has $57 million in government funding to distribute to research and firms in Australia.
What is the main obstacle for Australian AM projects?
Professor Andrew Ang named testing, qualification and supply chain as the valley of death, where projects tend to fail. Panelists also cited weak commercialisation and unclear government demand signals.
This summary was written with the help of AI from the linked reports, under the editorial responsibility of Svetozar Kolesar.