• The last Consortium Meeting provided an opportunity to assess progress and spotlight major milestones, including advances in on-site metal additive manufacturing that enhance PBF-LB quality and DED-LB repair precision through virtualisation and refined path planning.
• With the project set to conclude in November 2026, DISCMAM enters a pivotal stage where all technological developments will be integrated into a unified, tested and validated solution.

The city of Aarhus in Denmark provided an inspiring autumn setting for the latest DISCMAM Consortium Meeting, which brought together project partners to review progress made over the past six months. The event was hosted by the Danish Technological Institute (DTI), offering participants the opportunity to visit its advanced facilities dedicated to 3D printing technologies.

The meeting focused on tracking ongoing actions and defining the next strategic steps as the project approaches its final year, leading up to completion in November 2026. This upcoming phase will be decisive for the full integration and validation of the developed DISCMAM solutions, marking a key milestone in the project’s roadmap toward demonstrating secure, on-site repair and manufacturing capabilities within defence environments.

Technical progress highlights

The DISCMAM project continues to progress smoothly, with almost six work packages completed and all efforts now focused on successfully achieving the objectives defined for the second reporting period, which began in June 2025.

Over the past six months, the consortium has achieved four key technical accomplishments that mark significant progress in the development of the DISCMAM solution:

• Cybersecure Digital Pathway Pilot – Led by Accenture, this achievement focused on the development of a cybersecure digital framework for file and process data sharing. The solution ensures compliance with EU military platform requirements and enable remote assistance and secure files transfer securing last meter connection with AM machines.
• Monitoring Systems and Manufacturing Workflow Definition – Led by project coordinator LORTEK, this achievement advanced the development of process monitoring systems and established a defined manufacturing workflow. The result delivers an updated strategy for on-site operations, aimed at reducing system downtime while ensuring part quality and functionality for both repaired and newly manufactured components.
• PBF-LB improved scanning strategies for optimum manufacturing quality – Led by DTI. This advancement will minimize post-processing requirements, accelerate production, and improve the robustness of the PBF-LB metal additive manufacturing process and part quality. In conjunction with process monitoring systems and process data analysis paves the way for future digital part qualification without the need for additional on-site testing.
• Virtualization of the DED-LB wire LORTEK cell, including path planning and deposition strategies for repairing a selected use case – Led by ADAXIS. The completion of this task, allows to enhance the efficiency, precision and reliability of the metal AM repair process, helping to identify potential issues and optimize path planning strategies.

Building on these achievements, the project coordination team noted:

“The DISCMAM project is moving forward smoothly, and the current progress aligns with the established timeline goals. The coming months will be critical for the project progress, as all the developments will be consolidated into a final integrated solution”.

Strong collaboration and key events ahead for DISCMAM

The gathering covered a broad range of topics, from management and dissemination updates to technical developments, with a particular focus on the progress of the digital solution for on-site process optimisation and the status of the integration between the digital and physical components developed so far. These discussions aimed to assess the feasibility of the combined solution and define the next steps towards its validation in real operational environments.

Participants had the opportunity to visit and tour the Center for Industrial 3D Printing at DTI — one of Denmark’s few facilities equipped with industrial 3D printers for both metal and plastic. The Center supports the full value chain, from concept and design to construction, optimisation, and pilot-scale production, ensuring the delivery of tailored technical solutions that align with DISCMAM’s objectives.

As the project enters a decisive year, DISCMAM will be showcased by its partners at key additive manufacturing and 3D printing events, including FORMNEXT – the industry hub for Additive Manufacturing (19–22 November 2025, Frankfurt, Germany) and the AM Village 2026 (16–20 March 2026, Albacete, Spain). The AM Village organised by EDA and Spain Air Force will represent a major milestone for the project, featuring a dedicated workshop focused on quality assurance and quality control methods in on-site metal AM for the defense sector, and a live on-site demonstration of the DISCMAM solution and its advanced capabilities in secure, on-site manufacturing of spare parts with a deployable system from our core partner Fieldmade.

Consortium partners visited the Center for Industrial 3D Printing, guided by the DTI team.

• DISCMAM project held its third meeting in Frankfurt to review progress of recent months project work and set the stage for the challenges of 2025.
• During the initial phase, the project has reached an important achievement: the definition of on-site maintenance scenarios and the selection of use cases.  

The DISCMAM project, funded by the European Defence Fund (EDF), completed its first year of progress with a significant anniversary meeting in Frankfurt, Germany, on November 21, 2024. This gathering of consortium partners — including leading technical and research institutions— reviewed the project’s achievements over the past year and discussed key research and execution plans for the future.

Progress and strategic achievements

The first 12 months of the DISCMAM project have been pivotal in establishing the foundation for its continuation over the next two years. Aligned with the project’s objectives and through close cross-border collaboration among all partners, significant progress has been achieved. Notably, the first major milestone —the identification of scenarios and the selection of components or use cases aligned with these scenarios— has been reached. Five use cases have been defined, three for spare parts manufacturing and two for parts repair; those include an air compressor cover, a fuel filter housing, a phalanx maintenance tool, a front pulley and a joint shaft flange.

During this initial period, the goal has been to enhance efficiency and equipment readiness in military operations through the manufacture and repair of spare parts by two selected Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies: Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) and Laser Directed Energy Deposition (DED-LB).

Additionally, based on the selected scenarios and use cases, an on-site maintenance plan has been developed, together with the data flow characteristics required to establish a secure digital pathway. This plan addresses logistical considerations, ensures robust data protection, and aims to provide rapid responses to specific types of equipment failures and challenges on on-site maintenance and logistic supply chain.

Further work has been carried out to collate information regarding the specifications and requirements of the parts together with processing and post-processing steps for the selected use cases.

Reflecting on a year of project work, the project coordinator at LORTEK, stated:

“We are pleased to report that the project is making good progress. While the future outlook is challenging, we are confident of achieving our goals in a timely and efficient manner”.

In the coming months, DISCMAM anticipate implementing monitoring solutions and cybersecure digital pathways, as well as making progress on scanning technologies and the initial fabrication or reparation of the previously described use cases. These developments will drive the project’s mission to revolutionize maintenance and manufacturing processes in defence contexts

DISCMAM at FORMNEXT 2024

The third in-person consortium meeting since the project began in December 2023 was strategically aligned with the location of FORMNEXT convention in Frankfurt, the leading global event for additive manufacturing and industrial 3D printing. The project was proudly represented by its coordinator LORTEK with an own booth, while the project partners EULER and ADAXIS complementary highlighted the project work they are in lead of at their booths from November 19 to 22 at Formnext expo.

This meeting point offered DISCMAM an invaluable platform to highlight its objectives and achievements, connect with leading experts in AM, explore potential collaborations, engage stakeholders, and gain insights into emerging technological trends. These opportunities will significantly enhance the project’s ability to innovate and redefine logistics capabilities in the defence sector as the project advances toward initial trials, validation and field military interoperability exercise scheduled for 2025.

Adaxis and Euler participated in the FORMNEXT 2024 event, showcasing their latest innovative technologies.

• 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.