AM I Navigator and Leading Minds Align Efforts Under a New Alliance

Why It Matters

By combining complementary frameworks, standards expertise, and industry outreach, the alliance reduces adoption barriers and speeds scalable AM deployment across multiple sectors.

Key Takeaways

• Alliance merges AM I Navigator and Leading Minds initiatives
• Focus on knowledge exchange, communication, and adoption support
• AM I Navigator offers free maturity assessments and roadmaps
• Leading Minds develops common-language framework for AM processes
• New partners ASTM/Wohlers and MTDG expand ecosystem

Pulse Analysis

The formation of the Additive Manufacturing Alliance marks a strategic consolidation of two of the most influential AM initiatives. As manufacturers grapple with the complexity of integrating 3‑D printing into existing production lines, the alliance’s joint activities—knowledge sharing, coordinated messaging, and implementation guidance—provide a clearer pathway to industrial scale‑up. By leveraging the AM I Navigator’s structured maturity model alongside Leading Minds’ industry‑wide terminology framework, companies can benchmark capabilities, align investments, and speak a common language that accelerates decision‑making.

AM I Navigator, launched by Siemens, HP, EOS and others, offers a free, web‑based assessment that maps an organization’s current AM readiness across ten dimensions, from strategy to quality control. The tool’s data‑driven roadmaps help firms prioritize automation, cost‑reduction, and regulatory compliance, turning experimental prints into repeatable production parts. Its expanding partner network—including Materialise, Capgemini and now ASTM’s Wohlers Associates—adds depth in standards, certification, and high‑reliability sectors, ensuring that the guidance remains relevant for aerospace, defense, and medical manufacturers.

Leading Minds complements this by tackling the semantic fragmentation that often stalls collaboration. Its open, common‑language framework standardizes terminology across design, processing, and post‑treatment, enabling smoother supplier‑customer interactions. The recent inclusion of the Manufacturing Technology Deployment Group and its NCDMM/America Makes programs injects additional expertise in workforce development and defense manufacturing. Together, the alliance creates a holistic ecosystem that not only educates but also equips firms to transition from concept to certified, high‑volume additive production, positioning AM as a core pillar of future manufacturing strategies.