Strategic Research Agenda: release 2014

This (updated) Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) has been produced by the AM Sub-Platform, as an update to the previous Additive Manufacturing (AM) SRAs produced and to highlight priority areas for future development.

Manufacturing has been highlighted by the European Union as one of the key enablers to tackling some of the European challenges and their subsequent targets, in particularly for growth and creating high quality value-adding jobs. The Horizon 2020 Framework Programme is taking action to support and promote business research and innovation in enabling technologies. One of the priority actions will cover advanced manufacturing and processes (Domain 1 of the Factories of the Future Multi-annual Roadmap (EFFRA, 27 November 2012)).

• MANUFUTURE launched the European 'Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA) in 2009 with the objective to encourage (pre-competitive) research on production technologies within the European Research Area. This was to be achieved through engagement with the ‘Factories of the Future’ (FoF) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) with the European Union (Bessey, 15 May 2012).
• FoF has developed a roadmap for 'Factories of the Future 2020' (EFFRA, 27 November 2012). This roadmap highlights AM as a ‘key advanced manufacturing process’ and one where a broad range of benefits can be realised, including its potential for supporting environmental sustainability for manufacturing.

Please find the updated document here.

Kind Regards on behalf of the AM Platform,

Frits Feenstra TNO (NL), Martin Schaefer Siemens (DE), Rob Scudamore TWI (UK), Oliver Jay Teknologisk (DK)