Successful Additive Next summit held in Sandviken

More than 140 key people representing 60 companies and organizations from around the world gathered in Högbo on June 4-5, to talk on how to collaborate and work together to industrialize and set the standard within additive manufacturing (AM).

The summit gathered some of the world's most influential technologists in additive manufacturing to present keynote sessions, covering the different aspects along the additive manufacturing value chain such as materials, AM-design, different printing technologies, post-processing, robotics and automation, as well as the challenges faced when industrializing additive manufacturing and how to deal with them.​

It is so nice to hear Siemens and Sandvik, that are in the front of the industrialization of additive manufacturing in Sweden, are thinking that we could speed up this by collaboration

There were also breakout sessions where the participants were able to deep dive into areas in smaller groups, allowing for interaction and discussions in areas such as materials for serial production, different printing technologies for metals, post-processing of AM components, robotics and software solutions for AM.​

Collaboration and learning were mentioned by many of the participants as key takeaways from the summit. This was also mentioned by Kristian Egeberg, President of the Additive Manufacturing division in Sandvik:

"It was a great opportunity for key people in the AM industry to meet, discuss and reflect. I truly believe that cooperation is the way forward in this industry that is still quite young. My personal reflection is that we all share the same view on what is important to take additive manufacturing to the next level – and that Sandvik can play a key role in this journey. I am very pleased with this conference and look forward to next year's Additive Next."

Annika Strondl, manager powder materials and additive manufacturing at the metal research institute Swerim, sums up her key takeaways from the summit:

"It is so nice to hear Siemens and Sandvik, that are in the front of the industrialization of additive manufacturing in Sweden, are thinking that we could speed up this by collaboration. Everyone who was in the room is working daily with metal additive manufacturing, so the discussions at the conference could start on a really high level and talk of innovation and challenges from different aspects."

Michael Schuisky, Vice President R&D and Operations, Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, says:

"This is a dream that we have been having together with Siemens, to establish an annual industry summit where we bring in customers, leading AM-experts, decision makers and industrial influencers in the additive industry, to talk about the challenges that we have and get people's involvement. After this conference it is even more clear that Sandvik's capabilities in additive manufacturing and metal powder really are needed to drive this industry forward."

The summit ended with a panel discussion with questions from the participants.