Launch of the Manufacture Additive du Futur (MAF)

The eight members of the Manufacture Additive du Futur consortium officially signed their agreement on 17 December to establish this new structure. A true accelerator of industrial and digital transition, this network of platforms and expertise provides comprehensive support for SMEs and very small businesses in the region in the field of metal additive manufacturing.

“MAF is a project embedded in the regional structure dedicated to additive manufacturing and identified by Initiatives 3D, supported by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region and Saint-Étienne Métropole.”

The consortium brings together three higher education institutions: ENISE, Mines Saint Étienne, Université Jean Monnet; three companies: HEF, GIE ManuTech, WeAre Group; a technical centre, CETIM; and a professional organisation, UIMM Loire.

It is supported by several academic and industrial partners such as Bosch, Boa Concept, Sygma, ISTP, Siemens and Creative IT, as well as collaborative research programmes and competitiveness clusters (Viameca, Minalogic) associated with this integrated approach.

Resources covering the entire value chain

The consortium specialises in advanced manufacturing processes and will be “able to address business challenges across the entire value chain, from powder characterisation through to part surface texturing”.

A modular offering with highly flexible access for companies, this network of expertise includes, in a few figures:

7 laboratories specialising in testing technologies,
nearly 10 development and finishing platforms for different materials,
8 optimisation platforms (calculations, simulations, etc.), including IT’M Factory
more than 20 collaborative projects,
two industrial chairs (3D printing and SaniFAM, to promote the health effectiveness of metal additive manufacturing),
14 additive technology machines,
more than 40 teacher-researchers, researchers and PhD students, 30 engineers and technicians—human resources commensurate with its ambitions.