AM Craft effectively mitigates a critical hurdle hindering wider integration of 3D printed components in the aviation industry by delivering airworthiness-certified parts to airlines, MROs, and OEMs.
Expansion of 3D printing capacity and evaluation of collaboration with Stratasys Direct Manufacturing to enhance production capabilities and growth prospects.
Stratasys Ltd. and AM Craft have announced a strategic partnership to enhance the use of flight-certified 3D printed parts in the aviation sector. The companies signed a definitive commercial collaboration agreement, along with Stratasys’ strategic investment in AM Craft. With EASA Part 21G Production Organization Approval, AM Craft effectively mitigates a critical hurdle hindering wider integration of 3D printed components in the aviation industry by delivering airworthiness-certified parts to airlines, MROs, and OEMs.
Additive manufacturing emerges as an attractive solution for these sectors due to the extended operational lifespan of aircraft, which complicates the accurate prediction and stocking of replacement parts. To facilitate the partnership with Stratasys, Hemenway is joining the AM Craft board of directors.
Stratasys, Senior Vice President, Jeff Hemenway, said, “The low volume, high mix nature of the aviation aftermarket has resulted in extreme challenges to supply even the most minor of parts necessary to keep global fleets flying, Additive manufacturing addresses those challenges by cost-effectively producing at the rates and volumes required. AM Craft’s EASA-approved approach to certification takes this burden off the end customer.”
The combined network of these two companies operates 13 printers under EASA 21G approval, which have produced more than 28,000 flight parts to date. A future step within the partnership will be to evaluate collaboration with US-based Stratasys Direct Manufacturing, and their substantial install base of similar equipment.
Didzis Dejus, CEO, AM Craft, said, “Aligning with Stratasys will further strengthen the confidence of our customers that we can supply them with needed parts. Given Stratasys’ leadership in additive manufacturing we will continue to drive the adoption of 3D printing in the airline and MRO industries. Their technology is an ideal fit for aviation.”
AM Craft is the EMEA region’s largest EASA Form 1 certified additives manufacturer. The company provides airlines, Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) organizations, and Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) with airworthiness certified parts.
Scott Sevcik, AM Craft’s VP, Strategy and Business Development, said, “Aviation is a global industry, and our customers see localization of production as a major advantage that AM Craft can offer. By aligning with Stratasys and Additive Flight Solutions, we are better able to meet our customers’ needs to be in more major MRO hubs, In addition to being where our customers need us to be, it’s also critical that we continue to build the catalog of parts. We believe that this collaboration with Stratasys, as well as other major aviation suppliers and distributers, will help us to accelerate our future growth.”
Also read: Repair, reuse, recycle- the most commonly replaced aircraft components
AM Craft presently manufactures aviation components in Europe and has successfully expanded its Production Organization Approval to include Paradigm 3D, an affiliated entity based in Dubai, UAE. Meanwhile, Stratasys is actively involved in certified aviation parts production through its subsidiary, Additive Flight Solutions (AFS), located in Singapore. Under the terms of their collaboration, AM Craft will assume ownership and management of AFS, thereby expanding its operational footprint into Southeast Asia. Additionally, AM Craft plans to establish a new facility in Hamburg later this year, enhancing its global production capabilities.
