Based in Stuttgart and integrating ten institutes of the Fraunhofer Society across Germany, the activities of the Fraunhofer Additive Manufacturing Alliance involve the production of models, prototypes, tools and small-series end products. The Fraunhofer Society involves more than 80 research institutes, 59 of them Fraunhofer institutes across Germany. With 17,000 staff members, the largest organisation for advanced research in Europe provides the Alliance with a central platform for solutions related to additive manufacturing processes.
Founded in 1999 as the Fraunhofer Rapid Prototyping Alliance, it was renamed in 2009 as the Fraunhofer Additive Manufacturing Alliance. On 1 January 2010 the alliance was enlarged by the integration of the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU.
Partners of the alliance:
The Association of German Engineers (Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e.V. ;VDI): The association is the largest portal for engineers in Germany. The interactions between principal and agent in terms of rapid processes are established by the technical committee of Rapid Prototyping / Rapid Manufacturing
Global Alliance of Rapid Prototyping Association (GARPA): The association represents a contact platform in the field of Rapid Prototyping. It arranges the exchange of information in order to provide applicants and users with information on additive technologies concerning materials and machines.
The European Collaboration on Rapid Manufacturing: The RM platform Europe provides a framework for stakeholders to define research and development priorities, timeframes and action plans on issues related to RM.
Rapid Manufacturing Plattform Deutschland: The network promotes RM and spreads the technology. It consists of producers, users and experts on working groups for technology, education and standards.
Fraunhofer-Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Angewandte Materialforschung (IFAM)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Fabrikbetrieb und -automatisierung (IFF)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Keramische Technologien und Systeme (IKTS)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik (ILT)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnik und Automatisierung (IPA)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionstechnologie (IPT)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkstoffmechanik (IWM)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Zuverlässigkeit und Mikrointegration (IZM)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Umwelt-, Sicherheits- und Energietechnik (UMSICHT)
Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkzeugmaschinen und Umformtechnik (IWU)
