Partnership between ACMI and EOS strengthens metal 3D printing for industrial serial production

The American Center for Manufacturing & Innovation and the 3D printing specialist EOS have announced a strategic collaboration to make advanced manufacturing technologies more widely available in the United States. The focus is on expanding additive production capacities for industrial applications, particularly with regard to security-relevant supply chains and scalable serial production.

At the core of the partnership is the integration of state-of-the-art metal 3D printing systems into ACMI’s campus network. The organization pursues a model that brings together industrial, governmental, and academic stakeholders and builds production ecosystems from prototyping through serial manufacturing. By incorporating additive processes, development times are to be shortened and new fields of application for 3D printing in the defense and aerospace sectors opened up.

“These new capabilities from EOS will play a key role in accelerating development and production timelines, delivering direct benefits to defense manufacturers and the American industrial base,” said John Burer, Founder and CEO of ACMI. “This technology will help drive the factory floor of tomorrow—making American manufacturers more competitive and resilient across multiple sectors—while enabling the development of breakthrough products, hardware, and machines essential to our national security. None of this would be possible without the partnership of a global leader like EOS.”

As an initial concrete step, ACMI has acquired several systems from the EOS portfolio. These include the EOS M4 ONYX for production-oriented applications as well as an AMCM M 290-2 FLX with beam shaping. Particularly noteworthy is the large-format metal system AMCM M 8K, developed by AMCM. With a build volume of 800 × 800 × 1,200 millimeters and eight 1.2-kilowatt lasers, the system targets large, complex components made from demanding materials. A dedicated thermal management design and optimized gas flow are intended to ensure consistent component quality even during long build jobs.

“This partnership with ACMI represents a major step forward in accelerating the adoption of AM as a core manufacturing technology for the United States,” said Greg Hayes, Global SVP of Additive Minds, EOS. “By combining EOS’ decades of engineering expertise with ACMI’s vision for scalable production ecosystems, we’re explicitly enabling defense and aerospace manufacturers to move from concept to qualified production at an accelerated pace. The addition of systems like the AMCM M 8K and the EOS M4 ONYX into ACMI’s campuses give the U.S. industry access to capabilities that were previously out of reach, and we’re proud to support this mission to strengthen domestic manufacturing and national security.”