additive mfg

Founded in 2015, venture-backed aerospace firm, Relativity Space, is poised to disrupt the rocket manufacturing and launch markets as it secures long-term contracts at NASA’s Stennis and Kennedy Space Centers. Relativity is reimagining the process to iterate and scale rockets quickly, relying on its revolutionary “Stargate” metal 3D printer and new autonomous facilities to build and launch rockets in days rather than years. The Mississippi Development Authority supplied the cost reimbursement and tax incentive package that, combined with a $59 million infrastructure investment from Relativity, enabled the firm to move into a 220,000 square foot facility, unused for the last 20 years, in southern Mississippi.

A new program designed to support additive manufacturing (AM) technology insertion into the existing U.S. Army supply chain could also grow the southwestern Pennsylvania manufacturing sector. Catalyst Connection, in partnership with the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) and America Makes, launched AMNOW, a potentially multi-phase, multi-year contract funded by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) under the U.S. Army Futures Command. Catalyst Connection President and CEO Petra Mitchell said in a statement that the program “signifies a tremendous regional economic growth opportunity for small-to medium-sized manufactures within the SWPA region.” Catalyst Connection, a private not-for-profit organization headquartered in Pittsburgh, is part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

Recognizing the growing need for a skilled workforce in the increasingly digital manufacturing sector, a new report from the public-private effort of DMDII and ManpowerGroup aims to capture the changing technology and business interactions, and the job roles that are having an impact on the sector. The year-long body of work attempts to answer, among other questions, how workforce roles and job structures flex to accelerate the succession of a transforming global economy. By defining emerging roles and skills in the digital manufacturing and design space, the authors hope industry and academia will be able to better align for training and hiring. A full copy of the report, The Digital Workforce Succession in Manufacturing is available for download from: UI LABS at www.uilabs.org/taxonomy.

There are 11 primary barriers to the adoption of additive manufacturing by tech entrepreneurs and small high-growth firms, according to a new report from the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Office of Advocacy. These 11 barriers were identified via surveys and interviews with entrepreneurs, private industry and other participants. In addition to identifying the 11 barriers, respondents also provide best practices or recent activities around each of the identified barriers. The report also includes big ideas and recommendations for programs and policies that the federal government should consider adopting to overcome these barriers. In addition, the general recommendations include federal agency-funded, additive manufacturing pilot programs and better coordination of federal innovation initiatives. Read the report…