ASTM International‘s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE), along with numerous industry partners, is formally announcing the launch of the AM CoE Additive Manufacturing Certification Committee (AMCC) initiative. The AMCC is composed of only representatives from AM end-users.

The mission of ASTM’s AMCC is to bring key stakeholders together from across multiple industry sectors to collaborate on audit criteria to qualify AM supply chains. Development will be based on published international standards and industry best practices. The committee members representing aerospace, defense, medical, and transportation worked together for nearly a year to develop audit criteria comprising standardized requirements to qualify an AM facility. The first version of the audit criteria is in its final stages of completion.

“The work of the AMCC enables a better understanding of the capabilities of additive manufacturing suppliers amidst the rapid growth of providers in this technology area,” says Melissa Orme, vice president of additive manufacturing at The Boeing Company.

The founding committee currently comprises 23 members, including Ford Motor Company, Lockheed Martin, and Johnson & Johnson. See AMCC’s website for a full list of members.

“The efforts of the Additive Manufacturing Certification Committee stand to benefit our industry. The AMCC provides a great platform for end users across multiple sectors to collaboratively address common qualification challenges in additive manufacturing,” says Joseph Murphy, Associate Fellow, Lockheed Martin

Multi-industry participation in AMCC brings in the best practices that major industry sector adopts for qualification and certification of the production of parts. The audit criteria created by the AMCC aims to satisfy multi-industry sector requirements, and can be used by organizations to qualify their suppliers, or their internal additive manufacturing facilities.

“Developing certification criteria is a detailed and resource-intensive process, but the resulting value for our organization and the industry as a whole will be substantial,” notes Eddie Kavanagh, senior principal engineer at Johnson & Johnson. “The AM CoE, along with ASTM International, has created a program that will deliver significant benefits, and we are glad to contribute to this endeavor.”

The AMCC is responsible for developing, deploying, and maintaining the audit criteria, and managing the certification program.