MT Magazine March/April 2026

FEATURE STORY

an employee shares his story of having his hip replaced: When his doctor discussed the procedure with him, the employee informed the unaware doctor that the hip implant had been made via AM – in fact, the EOS employee recognized the implant brand and had been involved in the equipment sale. So, where does additive manufacturing fit? Here is part of the answer: It fits in your hip. But more than that, we see the emphasis on very focused, high-impact applications like acetabular cups driving various recent developments in AM. In a sense, we have now entered the time of purpose-driven additive manufacturing. The Retreat of Broad and the Rise of Narrow Previously, in recognizing additive’s use for production, many companies went to market with broad, production ready additive manufacturing platforms. The additive space became competitive. Another challenge these providers face is that their approach to marketing additive technology relies on AM users to find, prove, and qualify additive wins – and persuade their customers to adopt them. These challenges, competitiveness, and the need for adopters to develop and champion its uses have presented persistent headwinds for companies selling AM technology. As a result, some companies are leaving this space or reevaluating their services, including some well-known manufacturing equipment providers. For example, Trumpf, a successful machine tool maker, recently divested its additive manufacturing business in a sale to the DUBAG Group, which it relaunched as a standalone company named Atlix. And Arburg, the successful injection molding machine provider, announced it will withdraw fully from its additive business segment. In these cases, the model of selling industrial machines broadly to a spectrum of manufacturers did not align well with how additive manufacturing is being adopted. But then, conversely, recent successes demonstrate where additive technologies fit. Fabric8Labs, for example, offers a highly focused AM platform. The company recently announced significant investor support to expand production capacity using its proprietary 3D printing system for copper to make thermal management components in servers, among other electronics industry applications. As with acetabular cups, Fabric8Labs’ technology improves both performance and processing of these server components. Far from a broadly applicable solution, Fabric8Labs offers a narrow but transformative win for data center hardware. Another example of a focused win is solid-fuel propulsion system components. These systems rely on parts made from high-temperature materials, such as tungsten-rhenium alloys, that have historically been produced through extremely difficult machining or specialized powder metallurgy processes with extended lead times. But additive offers a flexible, responsive, cost-effective way to work with the difficult metals. Companies like Ursa Major, Materials Resources LLC, and others have announced major backing for the further development of their