Ric Fulop, Desktop Metal’s co-founder and CEO

Earlier this month, the additive manufacturing (AM) company Desktop Metal Inc — based in Burlington, Massachusetts — announced its support for the Biden Administration’s Additive Manufacturing Forward (AM Forward) initiative, which aims to strengthen US supply chains by supporting the adoption of AM among small and medium-size manufacturers.

Desktop Metal says that, as a global industry leader in AM, the company’s mission is to help make AM 2.0 technology accessible to companies of all sizes so they can produce more advanced parts and products faster, while also producing more sustainably and closer to the point of end use.

Ric Fulop, Desktop Metal’s co-founder and CEO, said the time is right for the AM Forward initiative: “Additive manufacturing has long held the potential to de-risk supply chains and enable new innovations. With manufacturing reshoring already accelerating as a result of the historic supply chain disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the AM Forward initiative is a timely and progressive approach to modernising our nation’s outdated manufacturing infrastructure with cutting-edge technologies that will help ensure that the work stays here for the long term.

“At Desktop Metal, we are committed to making additive manufacturing accessible to companies of all sizes in terms of speed, cost, and material availability. One of the key benefits of 3-D printing is supporting localised manufacturing that reduces reliance on global supply chains.

“Parts can be stored as digital files and easily sent around the world to be downloaded and printed as needed; and by allowing manufacturers to quickly produce parts when and where needed, the need for global shipping, large inventories and overproduction is greatly reduced.

“The adoption of 3-D printing is already improving industrial competitiveness among a number of businesses in a variety of industries. For example, US foundries are adopting AM to deal with a surge in demand. A recent survey released by the American Foundry Society shows that 90% of responding North American foundries anticipate making capital investments in the next 12 months, including industrial 3-D printers.”