SAMPE Journal - January/February 2017 - 15

Tobin Talks Washington
Department of Defense Unveils
Additive Manufacturing
Technology Roadmap

Tobin A. McGregor
Government Relations Manager
tobin@sampe.org

During the annual Defense Manufacturing Conference (DMC) in November, representatives from the US Army, Navy, Air
Force, and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) presented the recently developed Department of Defense (DoD) Additive
Manufacturing Technology Roadmap. Additive Manufacturing (AM) continues to be a major topic of interest for the
DoD. As such, the need for a coordinated plan to collectively mature AM in support of DoD requirements was obvious.
The initiative began in December 2014 when representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, DLA and the office of the
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manufacturing & Industrial Base Policy met to discuss collaboration on a DoD
Additive Manufacturing technology roadmap. Each DoD component sought to develop an AM technology roadmap
specific to its needs and then integrate those into a DoD-wide AM technology roadmap. In 2015, the DoD contracted
America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, to facilitate and support the roadmapping
effort. America Makes had previously developed a largely industry-focused National AM Technology Roadmap that
the DoD sought to leverage and align.
Between April and June of 2016, a total of nine road mapping workshops were conducted by America Makes; two
workshops with each Service and one joint workshop that brought representatives from all four organizations together.
The results of these workshops were one individual AM technology roadmap for each organization (e.g. Army), and
one integrated, joint roadmap, documenting the combined interests of all. The individual roadmaps focused on current
state, future state, and the identification of the technology gaps existing between the two. The joint roadmap focuses on
identifying areas of commonality between the individual roadmaps.
Consistent with America Makes National AM Roadmap, the DoD and individual component AM Technology Road
Maps are broken down into four primary technical focus areas or "Swim Lanes":
Design - Drives technological advancements in new design methods and tools.
Material - Builds the body of knowledge for benchmark AM property characterization data and eliminating variability
in "as-built" material properties.
Process - Drives technological advancements that enable faster, more accurate, and higher detail resolution AM
machines.
Value Chain - Encourages technological advancements that enable step change improvements in end-to-end value
chain cost and time to market for AM produced products.
According to the associated DoD AM Roadmap Final Report, the DoD is investing in AM technologies as a means to
"improve logistics, enable new and improved products and increase materiel readiness". An integrated DoD roadmap
provides a means of coordinating the investments and AM applications across the DoD and communicating with industry
the current needs and planned efforts related to AM technology development.
According to the DoD AM Technology Roadmap, the DoD is focusing on the utilization of AM to support operations
and sustainment activities at logistics centers and depots, as well as onboard ships and at forward operating bases with
the objective to produce replacement parts "on demand" to ensure DoD platforms are "functional and mission ready"
as well as in addressing supply chain issues and hard-to-source parts. Another primary driver for the DoD interest in
AM is in the area of "New Part/System Acquisition" whereby the unique attributes of AM can be exploited in designing
and producing new improved, longer lasting, and lighter weight parts and systems.
Although the DoD AM Roadmap is primarily focused on AM-related technology development and transition requirement
identification in support of these applications, the Roadmap also identifies several needs critical to the eventual success
of DoD AM efforts, including [DoD] workforce development, policy change (e.g. acquisition), and culture change. The
DoD AM Technology Roadmap Final Report, the next steps are to create a coordinated DoD-wide investment plan for
advancing AM capabilities and begin to execute the DoD-wide plan for developing and exploiting AM.
If you are interest in learning about the DoD AM Technology Road Map please visit:
https://www.americamakes.us/resources/dod-integrated-roadmap
SAMPE Journal, Volume 53, No. 1, January/February 2017

https://www.americamakes.us/resources/dod-integrated-roadmap

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SAMPE Journal - January/February 2017