Increasing the industrial uptake of additive manufacturing processes: A training framework

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is one of the key technologies of Industry 4.0, offering unique advantages and capabilities. The interest in AM has been steadily increasing, leading to its rapid recent growth and improvement in all its aspects. However, its wider adoption is hindered by various barriers, the most important of which are the relatively high initial investment cost, part quality issues, limited material choices, and lack of expertise. The research community, AM machine developers, and larger enterprises are continuously contributing to the improvement of the first three factors. Nonetheless, the same cannot be stated for the barrier of limited expertise, leading the industrial sector to a perpetual lack of knowledge and, therefore, reluctance for a potential AM uptake. This study is addressing the need of the industrial sector for structured and organized expertise training for the fruitful exploitation of AM, paving the road for its wider application. The guidelines for an industrial-oriented AM training curriculum are set through the development of an AM training framework. The different AM thematic areas are classified into educational modules, which are separately analyzed, considering the participants’ active role and hands-on practice. The proposed step-by-step approach builds up from introductory to more advanced concepts, ensuring flexibility and simultaneously encompassing the needs of all industrial stakeholders (engineers, designers, managers, operators). Additionally, strategies corroborating the accessibility of the proposed framework are discussed, as well as dissemination policies and tools to facilitate its industrial endorsement.