NEW YORK, NY, USA, Feb 26, 2026 – AMS 2026 — Two leading initiatives in the additive manufacturing (AM) industry have announced the creation of the Additive Manufacturing Alliance, an umbrella bringing together Leading Minds and the AM I Navigator. The Additive Manufacturing Alliance represents a shared belief in the power of collaboration to accelerate the industrial adoption of additive manufacturing.
The Additive Manufacturing Alliance brings together two established initiatives with complementary approaches and areas of focus. The Alliance will collaborate on selected joint activities, while both AM I Navigator and Leading Minds will continue to engage independently where appropriate. By aligning their efforts, the Alliance supports the shared objective of advancing additive manufacturing as a core industrial technology and enabling its scalable adoption across industries.
“Our shared goal is to make additive manufacturing more accessible, less complex, and more integrated into everyday industrial production,” says Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, CEO of Materialise, on behalf of the Additive Manufacturing Alliance. “Together, we can help more companies across a wider variety of industries benefit from the flexibility, efficiency, and innovation that AM enables.”
Initial joint activities of the Additive Manufacturing Alliance will focus on knowledge exchange, joint industry communication, and supporting companies along their path toward industrializing additive manufacturing.
One example of this collaboration is the connection between awareness and execution: while Leading Minds builds understanding of AM’s potential and helps companies overcome initial barriers, the AM I Navigator supports them with real-world use cases and transformation insights — providing clear, actionable guidance for implementation. Together, the initiatives enable manufacturers to progress from inspiration to industrial adoption
AM I Navigator: a strategic framework for accelerating AM maturity
The AM I Navigator, launched at Formnext 2023 by Siemens, DyeMansion, HP, BASF Forward AM, and EOS, provides companies with a proven framework for industrializing additive manufacturing and scaling it into serial production environments integrated with other manufacturing technologies.
Since its launch, the AM I Navigator has been applied in multiple industrial transformation initiatives. Companies use the maturity model to benchmark their current AM capabilities, align investments across the end‑to‑end process chain, and derive clear roadmaps toward higher levels of automation, quality, and economic viability. This structured approach enables confident decision‑making and supports the progression from pilot applications toward industrial production.
The AM I Navigator ecosystem has continued to grow and now includes additional partners such as Materialise, AMTPro, AZO, as well as knowledge partners including Capgemini and BCG.
“Via the newly launched AM I Navigator website, companies worldwide can independently and free of charge assess their additive manufacturing maturity and explore transformational insights derived from proven industrial applications,” says Karsten Heuser, Vice President Additive Manufacturing at Siemens. “The assessment tools are voluntary resources designed to help companies of all sizes, from startups to global manufacturers, benchmark their capabilities and identify improvement opportunities.”
The AM I Navigator Maturity Model, Transformation Insights, and self‑assessment tools are accessible via the AM I Navigator website: https://am-i-navigator.com/
ASTM, with its Wohlers Associates, joins the AM I Navigator as Knowledge Partner
Wohlers Associates, powered by ASTM International, strengthens the AM I Navigator network as a Knowledge Partner, contributing deep expertise in qualified additive manufacturing for high‑reliability and regulated industries. With a strong focus on standards, certification, and industrial readiness — particularly in demanding industries, such as defense, aerospace, and medical — Wohlers Associates enriches the initiative. Its unique market intelligence database, its global network of well-known experts, and its proven methodologies will help bring AM I Navigator to the next level.
“By joining the AM I Navigator, we aim to contribute our experience in translating additive manufacturing standards into robust industrial practice. Together with the partner network, we want to help manufacturers accelerate the transition from experimentation to qualified, scalable production,” says Dr. Mohsen Seifi, Vice President of Global Advanced Manufacturing Programs at ASTM International.
Leading Minds: a collaborative effort to advance AM
Announced at Formnext 2024, Leading Minds is a consortium formed by eight founding members: Ansys, EOS, HP, Materialise, Nikon SLM, Renishaw, Stratasys, and ATLIX (formerly Trumpf Additive Manufacturing). Together, these companies share two main objectives: increasing awareness of additive manufacturing’s capabilities across industries and removing the hurdles manufacturers face when adopting and scaling AM solutions for industrial use.
The first initiative announced by the consortium focuses on addressing the fragmentation and complexity of AM terminology. Today, different companies often use distinct language to describe the same processes or capabilities, leading to confusion and slowing down industrial adoption. Leading Minds is developing an open, common language framework that enables manufacturers and technology providers to communicate more clearly and consistently. Since its introduction, the framework has been expanded to cover all domains of the additive manufacturing production process and is already being actively used with customers, who value its ability to make conversations about AM clearer, standardized, and actionable.
As part of its broader mission, Leading Minds also invests in AM awareness by participating in major industrial events in North America and Europe, targeting sectors where adoption is still emerging and where additive manufacturing offers significant future potential.
Leading Minds welcomes new member
The Leading Minds consortium announces the addition of the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group (MTDG) as its newest member. MTDG, along with its subsidiary — the National Center for Defense Manufacturing & Machining (NCDMM) and its America Makes program — focuses on helping manufacturers deploy advanced manufacturing technologies, and colleges and universities to embrace advanced manufacturing technologies. Dean L. Bartles, CEO & President of MTDG, will represent MTDG within the consortium, further strengthening Leading Minds’ mission to accelerate additive manufacturing adoption and industrialization across diverse industries.
“MTDG is honored to join the Leading Minds consortium at such a pivotal moment for our industry,” says Dean L. Bartles, CEO & President of MTDG. “Through the combined strengths of MTDG, NCDMM, and America Makes, we remain deeply committed to advancing the industrialization of additive manufacturing and expanding its impact across the manufacturing ecosystem.”
About Leading Minds Consortium
Leading Minds is a collaborative initiative formed by leading companies in 3D printing. With a shared vision for the future of manufacturing, the consortium’s mission is to unlock the full potential of 3D printing technology by addressing the barriers to adoption. Through their collective efforts, the consortium aims to shape the future of manufacturing and drive innovation across industries.
About AM I Navigator
The AM I Navigator is an industry initiative that brings together leading experts across the additive manufacturing value chain to support companies in advancing their AM maturity. Built around a holistic five‑stage maturity model covering ten key dimensions — from strategy and design to production, quality, and organization — the AM I Navigator helps organizations assess their current capabilities and define a clear path toward industrialization.
Through structured maturity assessments, transformation insights based on real industrial use cases, and an open, partner‑driven ecosystem, the AM I Navigator provides practical guidance for scaling additive manufacturing in production environments.
About Materialise
Materialise incorporates more than three decades of 3D printing experience into a range of software solutions and 3D printing services that empower sustainable 3D printing applications. Our open, secure, and flexible end-to-end solutions enable industrial manufacturing and mass personalization in various industries — including healthcare, automotive, aerospace, eyewear, art and design, wearables, and consumer goods. Headquartered in Belgium and with branches worldwide, Materialise combines the largest group of software developers in the industry with one of the world’s largest and most complete 3D printing facilities.
