At the Industrialized AM-Summit 2026 in Hamburg, Day 3 was fully dedicated to certification in additive manufacturing – one of the key challenges for industrialization.
The Certification Workshop, including impulse presentations from certification bodies and IAMHH members and perspectives from industry experts representing Colibrium Additive (a GE Aerospace company), EOS, and Qualified AM GmbH, provided a clear view on the current state of AM certification.
The key message:
AM technologies are mature – but industrialization is still limited by certifiable and audit-ready processes.
Certification in AM: From Bottleneck to Enabler
Certification must be system-integrated
Certification is not a final step. It must be embedded in a consistent, end-to-end framework:
Controlled AM workflows
- Risk-based qualification approaches
- Validated material–machine–parameter combinations
- Full traceability across the process chain
Without this, certification remains fragmented and difficult to scale.
Reducing validation effort
A central discussion point was the need to reduce validation effort compared to established processes such as PBF-M, while maintaining compliance.
Structured, standard-compliant, and risk-based approaches enable:
- Focus on critical parameters
- Targeted validation instead of full requalification
- Reuse of qualification data across applications
Digitalization as the foundation
Scalable certification requires a digital backbone:
- Centralized data management
- Automated, audit-ready documentation
- Linked design, material, process, and inspection data
- Continuous monitoring of qualified process windows
Certification is the key enabler for industrial AM.