• Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) excels in supply chain management, covering additive manufacturing in military supply chains, game theory, and mathematical optimization.

The research component is fundamental to the success of the DISCMAM project, as it drives innovation and ensures the integration of the latest technological advancements throughout the development process. Central to this effort is the involvement of highly regarded research partners, such as the Eindhoven University of Technology, whose expertise and cutting-edge contributions from the research and technological fields play an important role in advancing in the project.

Established in 1956 through a partnership between industry, local government, and academia, TU/e exemplifies a unique combination of scientific inquiry and practical, hands-on methods, making it an invaluable partner in advancing the project’s goals.    

TU/e, leading the charge in research and industry collaboration

Eindhoven University of Technology is a pioneering research institution renowned for its strong academic collaborations with industry. The university’s research efforts focus on addressing key societal challenges in Health, Energy, and Smart Mobility. Through close partnerships with high-tech industries, clinical hospitals, and government bodies, the university drives scientific innovation and knowledge transfer. 

The research team working on DISCMAM is part of the Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences Department, with a specific interest in the topics of Homeland Security, defence, supply chain management, and game theory. The group includes dr. ir. Rob Basten, Niccolò Maccarini, MSc, dr. ir. Loe Schlicher and dr. Marco Slikker.

This highly skilled team has also been deeply involved in other projects. Alongside other (PhD) researchers, they have conducted studies on optimizing military supply chains. Specifically, they have developed mathematical models to identify the best conditions for using additive manufacturing to produce spare parts, thereby enhancing equipment availability and reducing costs.

Innovative Intellectual Property solutions

TU/e has been actively involved in the project’s initial ambitious goal since its early stages, focusing on defining maintenance plans for various scenarios.

Looking ahead, their mission involves addressing the challenge of enabling military organizations to utilize external Intellectual Property (IP). This requires studying viable contracting options between an IP owner and a defence organization, with the goal of effectively sharing the value created by additive manufacturing and protecting IP rights.

But, what is the key innovative aspect of this work?

“The outcome of the university’s study will identify what the opportunities are to come to a satisfactory compensation mechanism for the IP owner, encouraging them to share digital images of spare parts with military organisations. For this, we need to innovatively combine game theoretical aspects with spare parts management”, explained Maccarini.

The role of TU/e in the ROLIAC Project

The project is backed by a consolidated consortium with proven experience in European projects, positioning it strongly within the sector. TU/e contributes extensive expertise as a partner in the European Defence Fund (EDF) project ROLIAC (Robust and Light AM Components for Military Systems), which is led by our partner, the Danish Technological Institute. This initiative focuses on leveraging the benefits of additive manufacturing for metal components within military supply chains.

As part of the ROLIAC project, the educational entity developed a decision support tool designed to determine the optimal placement of printing facilities within a military supply chain. This tool is available for use by Ministries of Defence (MODs). As mentioned by Schlicher: “It would be beneficial to develop a tool for the DISCMAM project, which focuses on Intellectual Property licensing, to assist MODs in managing IP more effectively”.

• Fieldmade aims to develop a digital thread tailored to the defence sector’s requirements, leveraging sensor and measurement data to minimize the need for on-site expertise.

During the initial phase of DISCMAM, the technological activities conducted by the partners have been crucial for ensuring the project’s direction and positioning. In this early period, Fieldmade has been actively involved. As a technology leader specializing in deployed powder-based additive manufacturing (AM) systems, Fieldmade’s expertise has been essential in defining requirements and validating solutions developed in the project. Their ongoing involvement in the coming years will remain a key factor of the project’s success.

Fieldmade, at the forefront of technological advancements in the defence sector

Fieldmade is a Norwegian technology company specializing in mobile digital production methods and digital value networks in the energy, mining, shipping and defence sector. The company has extensive in-house engineering competencies for reverse engineering and design for additive manufacturing. This expertise supports the efficient operation of its deployable AM micro factories, known as the NOMAD® Series.

DISCMAM benefits from the support of a highly skilled team at Fieldmade. Each member contributes valuable expertise to ensure the achievement of the project’s objectives. In the management area, Nina Rooijakkers, from the Digitalization team, oversees the project from Fieldmade’s end. Meanwhile, Nils Knofius, Head of Digitalization, has a crucial role on the project management board. He ensures that DISCMAM’s objectives are aligned with Fieldmade’s broader Research & Development (R&D) goals.

On the technical side, Tobias Rønneberg, Head of Quality at Fieldmade, is responsible for coordinating the technical work conducted in the project. Additionally, Josh Corps, Product Design and Development Engineer at the company, leverages his extensive experience in the military sector. Corps provides indispensable insights into typical usage scenarios of additive manufacturing within the military domain. His expertise also helps identify requirements for future usage scenarios unique to the defense sector. This enables the DISCMAM project to develop highly tailored solutions for this field.

Requirements for a digital thread and AM application scenarios

Fieldmade, with its goal to bring additive manufacturing to the field, offers a specific background that enables defining requirements and validating solutions developed in DISCMAM.

As Rooijakkers explains:

“In the project, Fieldmade’s focus is the development of a digital thread tailored to the defence sector’s requirements, as well as leveraging sensor and measurement data to minimize the need for on-site expertise”.

At the project’s outset, the company played an important role by supporting the consortium to define application scenarios of additive manufacturing in the defence sector that each come along with a set of unique challenges. For example, enabling additive manufacturing during a peace keeping mission poses different requirements than during times of conflict. Additionally, the company was responsible for setting the requirements for the digital thread, which can be significantly different from the civilian sector. For instance, several application scenarios cannot rely on a steady connection. This requires the use of autonomous data spaces that can be synchronized on-demand.

R&D activities and value chain collaboration

As a technology company, Fieldmade has the responsibility to stay at the forefront of technological advancements. Recognizing this commitment, Fieldmade puts large emphasis on R&D activities that are partially supported via European and national funding. Across the board a key success factor is the close collaboration with the user. To that purpose, the company regularly seeks opportunities to reassess their priorities and determine the most effective technological approach.

Given Fieldmade’s position to collaborate closely with partners across the value chain, our partner offers deep insights into practical challenges to the DISCMAM project.

• Lortek, Competence Centre in Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) and Joining Technologies, coordinates DISCMAM, ensuring the final success of the project.

The DISCMAM project has assembled a multidisciplinary consortium aimed at establishing a pioneering business model for remote assisted on-site maintenance operations. Leading this ambitious initiative is LORTEK, serving as the project coordinator and managing various technical tasks with a team of highly specialized researchers throughout the three-year project.

Lortek’s contribution to DISCMAM: leading coordination, management and technical innovation

Founded in 2002, Lortek is a private technology center integrated into the Mondragon Corporation as a cooperative. Specializing in generating knowledge on manufacturing processes and their digitalization, Lortek’s mission is to transfer this knowledge to the industrial sector, enhancing competitiveness, reducing environmental impact, and promoting sustainability.

Within DISCMAM, the areas of expertise of LORTEK in Digitalization Technologies and Metal Additive Manufacturing will collaborate. The project involves the participation of highly specialized researchers from the company, including Dr. Juan Carlos Pereira as coordinator, Dr. Marta Muñiz Mangas from the Additive Manufacturing Technologies Group at LORTEK, and Dr. Miriam García, European project manager at the company.

As project coordinator of DISCMAM, Pereira outlines:

“Our role is to focus on the project objectives by ensuring that the project runs smoothly, that we are on track to achieve our goals, and that all team members are informed and focused on their objectives”.

In addition, LORTEK plays an important role in technical tasks related to DED-LB/M methodologies for repairing damaged parts on-site, including 3D scanning and process monitoring systems. This ensures that DISCMAM uses a highly efficient repair technology that can later be applied in the field with a deployable concept.

Collaboration with other EU initiatives

LORTEK, recognized as a Competence Centre in metal AM and joining technologies, boasts extensive experience in EU projects. Over the past decade, LORTEK has coordinated 10 European projects, including 5 related to AM, and participated in 10 others, of which 6 were AM-related. The organization has actively participated in European programs such as H2020/HE, Clean Aviation, Interreg, and EDF. Currently, LORTEK participates in an EDF-2021 funded project named ROLIAC within the defense domain, with our partner DISCMAM, Danish Technological Institute, serving as the coordinator.

The participation of the centre in these diverse projects and initiatives has enabled it to accumulate a set of best practices that it will apply in DISCMAM and continually review. These practices include:

• Implementing a secure infrastructure to protect sensitive information
• Improving operational efficiency by embracing technological advancements like remote assistance and additive manufacturing,
• Investing in research and development to stay at the forefront of emerging technologies.

Moving Forward: Challenges on the horizon

As DISCMAM has already reached its midpoint and sets its sights on the future, the entity is working intensively on creating the project management plan and procedures to ensure the project’s success.

LORTEK, in continuous coordination with the other nine partners of the consortium, is also defining usage scenarios and creating maintenance plans, specifying requirements for selected use cases, and participating in selecting process monitoring systems to include in PBF-LB and DED-LB for developing project innovations. Furthermore, LORTEK actively collaborates to define data flow and IT requirements for the secure digital thread that will be developed in the coming years.

• Project partners convened at the TU/e facilities to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the project’s progress during the initial six-month period, focusing on achievements and planning strategies to tackle future challenges.

The second Consortium Meeting of DISCMAM took place at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) Campus in Eindhoven (Netherlands) on the 21st of May, 2024. Hosted by TU/e representatives, the meeting saw the participation of consortium partners from various organizations and institutions involved in the project.

During the gathering, attendees exchanged recent advancements achieved within the first six months and engaged in collaborative discussions aiming to steer progress towards the project’s primary goal: to establish a secure digital thread for remote assistance in defence field operations.

Progress, insights, and next steps

The meeting began with a warm welcome from Rob Basten, the TU/e representative, followed by Juan Carlos Pereira, the project coordinator, and Marta Muñiz, both from Lortek, initiating a day of extensive discussions and decision-making. During this session, DISCMAM organized both the consortium meeting and the second Project Technical Committee to present the current project status and share various ideas to achieve the final objective of DISCMAM.

The first presentation by Lortek focused on management aspects, providing updates on project status, ongoing technical work, and forthcoming milestones and deliverables to ensure agile and effective project progress aligned with predetermined objectives.

Technical presentations by TU/e, Innotec Security, Part of Accenture, Fieldmade, and Lortek stimulated in-depth discussions on preliminary results, maintenance plans for rapid response to equipment failures, and specifications for parts to be manufactured or repaired using metal additive manufacturing (AM). The morning session concluded with an exciting visit to the TU/e facilities, where various activities and the latest machinery in use were showcased.

Guided tour of the TU/e facilities.

Concluding the gathering, partners Zabala Innovation and CenSec provided comprehensive insights into numerous communication and dissemination actions undertaken during the project’s initial phase, including stakeholder analysis and engagement strategies. These efforts encompassed the creation of the official project website, social media campaigns on LinkedIn, and supporting communication materials to enhance the project’s visibility on an international scale.

The session concluded on a positive note, marking significant progress under DISCMAM. While the research is still in its early stages, pivotal strategic decisions have been reached, and forthcoming challenges identified for the upcoming months. Consortium members were encouraged to maintain the productive conversations initiated at the project’s onset and remain dedicated to achieving DISCMAM’s ambitious goals.

• The AM Village gathered around 400 professionals from the Additive Manufacturting sector.
• DISCMAM representatives held a workshop to showcase the project’s objectives, use cases, and solutions that will be developed over the course of the project.

From May 13th to 17th, the ‘Additive Manufacturing Village 2024’ (AM Village 2024) brought together around 400 leading Additive Manufacturing experts from the EU Armed Forces, defence industry, research centres, and academia to discuss and advance cutting-edge industrial Additive Manufacturing (AM) capabilities.

The event took place in Tournai, Belgium, organized by the European Defence Agency (EDA) in collaboration with the Multinational Logistic Coordination Center (MLCC, Czech Armed Forces), and hosted by the Belgium Defence Logistic School (Belgium Army). The focus was on testing and demonstrating deployable AM technology and tailored manufacturing methods for military applications.

DISCMAM Workshop: showcasing cutting-edge solutions

The AM Village featured five days of 16 seminars and capability workshops, 30 presentations on additive manufacturing-specific topics, 12 demonstrations, and hands-on interactions among participants. This second edition of the event aimed to build on the findings from the 2023 first edition, further reviewing industrial AM capabilities and demonstrating deployable AM technology and manufacturing methods for diverse military use cases.

Members from the DISCMAM project, including Marta Muñiz Mangas (Lortek), Nina Rooijakkers, Véronique Zijlstra and Nils Knofius (Fieldmade), Niccolò Maccarini (TU/e), and Daniel Ferreira (Danish Technological Institute), organized and delivered Workshop 12 titled ‘Metal Additive Manufacturing Technologies and Digital Solutions to Enable On-Site Maintenance in Defence’ on the afternoon of May 15th.

During the seminar, our representatives introduce their entities and expertise in the sector and showcased DISCMAM’s innovative solution and objectives, setting the foundation for a new business model aimed at remote-assisted on-site maintenance operations.

“Our participation the AM Village has been an opportunity to meet and exchange experiences with leading experts in the field. It allowed us to better understand our project objectives and the real needs in the field, and to continue to work together to push the boundaries and accelerate the adoption of AM technology within the Armed Forces”.

Marta Muñiz, Lortek.

Following our participation in the AM Village, and with almost six months of project progress, DISCMAM will meet at the next consortium meeting to evaluate the developments made so far and plan the next steps for transforming military logistics with on-site metal additive manufacturing innovations. We remain committed to continuing our collaboration and advancing the integration of AM technology within military operations.