How Can Additive Manufacturing Support Sustainable Manufacturing?How Can Additive Manufacturing Support Sustainable Manufacturing?

If you're saving money, you're most likely also saving environmental impact, says Sherri Monroe, executive director of the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association, who is speaking at the Sustainable Manufacturing Expo.

Daphne Allen, Editor-in-Chief

February 3, 2025

6 Min Read
Additive manufacturing and sustainable manufacturing

Additive manufacturing isn’t new. But as technologies have developed, users have been analyzing how additive compares to traditional processes, explains Sherri Monroe, executive director of the Additive Manufacturer Green Trade Association (AMGTA). And that analysis includes considering the economic and environmental benefits.

“AMGTA is really focused on the environmental impact aspect of additive,” Monroe tells Design News. “But really, the economic and environmental aspects track together rather than being at odds. It's not a matter of are we economically viable or are we sustainable? It's yes and yes. Because if you're saving money, you're most likely also saving environmental impact.

“Because I always say, what are you saving money on? It's energy, distribution costs, wasted material. Those are all very good economic drivers. But they're also environmental drivers, so really understanding how those things go together is really important. And for businesses looking for more sustainable solutions.” 

Monroe is speaking about additive manufacturing at the Sustainable Manufacturing Expo. On February 4, she’ll present, “Leveraging 3D-Printing and Additive Manufacturing to Deliver Better Economic and Environmental Results Across the Enterprise.” And then on February 5 she’ll moderate the panel, “Additive Design, Manufacture and Strategy: Real World Adoption and Results.” She’ll be joined by Rosa Coblens; vice president, sustainability and communications at Stratasys; Paul DiLaura, chief commercial officer at Mantle; Bjorn Hannappel, head of sustainability at EOS; and Jim Woodcock, cofounder & editor at MANSUS.

Related:3D Printing & AI Drive Sustainability

The Sustainable Manufacturing Expo explores how environmental and economic considerations can align in sustainable manufacturing. 

“Sometimes the environmental aspect is not the primary concern,” says Monroe. “Sometimes it's the fortunate unintended consequence of simply running a more efficient operation,” says Monroe. “Whether better environmental impact is your goal or efficiency or meeting regulations, the motive is not necessarily that important.”

Monroe classifies additive manufacturing’s advantages into a few different buckets: 

  • Better use of materials. “Less material is used to create a component or a part. That's largely a result of design for additive where you can create structures that you simply couldn't machine, such as a curved channel,” she says.

  • Part consolidation. “If you think about any kind of larger system like an engine, there are different parts that have to be connected, and usually that segmentation is not because of optimizing equipment performance. It's because of design or manufacturing limitations," she explains. "With additive, you can print one or two pieces instead of 100 pieces. That not only saves material, because you don't need that extra material where things get bolted or welded together, but you also have fewer failures because most systems fail where these parts come together.”

  • Better performance and durability. A part that lasts longer has economic and environmental benefits, she says. 

  • Efficient production quantities. “There's this assumed idea that you have to produce components in very large quantities because that's where the cost bottoms out. With additive, it might be slightly more expensive per component, but the fact that you can make a hundred of these instead of needing to produce 10,000 of them to be efficient means you're saving money on warehousing and carrying inventory,” she says. 
    Reducing overproduction is a huge aspect of sustainability. “It may not be about the sustainability in the part you produce. It may be in the part you didn't produce and that has tremendous impact by reducing overproduction and the obsolescence that goes along with that.”

  • More responsive to demands. “You’re able to be more responsive to consumer demand and other things that impact supply chains such as plagues, disasters, or geopolitical concerns. Being able to be more responsive is a tremendous benefit that additive brings to the table."
    Companies can also respond to market trends. “Imagine if a brand wanted to create specialty soda bottles for the two teams playing in the Super Bowl. There's only two weeks between when we know who's going to be in the Super Bowl and the game. You could never get a traditional mold and bottles produced in that short of time. You simply couldn't do it. But with additive manufacturing, you can create the mold for a short run. What that means for a company could be really impactful.”
    Also, “the ability to move production closer to demand -  geographically closer or closer in time - may enable companies to be more responsive. And not only can they be responsive and produce the item that people want, but they can avoid over producing the item that it turns out people didn't want.”

Related:Direct-Material Jetting Takes Shape for Metal & Ceramic Surgical Tools

Monroe says that it's not a matter traditional manufacturing versus additive manufacturing. “You can actually use additive manufacturing to enhance traditional manufacturing because you can produce tooling for traditional manufacturing molds. There's no limit to what additive will be able to impact,” she says.

Related:Direct-Material Jetting Takes Shape for Metal & Ceramic Surgical Tools

At the Sustainable Manufacturing Expo, Monroe will explore how additive can be leveraged from an enterprise level. “Because that's really when leadership sees opportunity. For instance, they can keep legacy equipment running longer because they can manufacture spare parts. A greater awareness of these capabilities will help drive that adoption internally.”

Regulations may also be driving efforts toward a more-sustainable manufacturing operation, such as EU regulations and SEC reporting requirements. However, there may be a shift in US regulations under President Donald Trump’s administration.

“The reality is we have to be very clear eyed about our current conditions. We may not hear the words ‘climate change’ come out of the US government over the next four years. However, businesses still need to run efficient businesses. They need to be efficient in their use of energy and materials. They want better control over their supply chains, and if that leads to reshoring or near shoring, all those things still lead to better economic and environmental outcomes. It leads to better resiliency to be able to handle whatever comes our way. Whether you call it sustainability or whether you call it resource efficiency, it doesn't matter. It's important for companies to stay in business, so they've got to be profitable.” 

Monroe says that AMGTA is the only organization focused on sustainability and the environmental impacts of additive manufacturing. “Our membership is about 45% North America, about 45% Europe, and then the rest scattered around the globe and continuing to grow. Our membership really comprises any organization that's involved in additive manufacturing, from the technology development side to the users of additive technologies.

“Companies like John Deere and Stryker are leveraging additive for the products the develop and market. Even Target is using additive to produce spare parts for equipment and distribution centers to keep equipment running and not have to have parts shipped in,” she adds. “So those kinds of benefits are really important, and we bring those folks together to look at best practices and understand where these practices have environmental benefits. We work on case studies and life cycle analyses. We bring together like-minded organizations that are interested in the environmental impacts and understand the value of collaboration. There's just so much potential in the world of additive manufacturing, and there's so much more to be gained by working together.”

But “it's not enough for the additive community to talk to the additive community,” she adds. “We need to be out talking to a broader audience. Our goal is to raise awareness and increase adoption of additive because we feel like when applied across the enterprise, this is a more sustainable set of technologies.”

About the Author

Daphne Allen

Editor-in-Chief, Design News

Daphne Allen is editor-in-chief of Design News. She previously served as editor-in-chief of MD+DI and of Pharmaceutical & Medical Packaging News and also served as an editor for Packaging Digest. Daphne has covered design, manufacturing, materials, packaging, labeling, and regulatory issues for more than 20 years. She has also presented on these topics in several webinars and conferences, most recently discussing design and engineering trends at MD&M West 2024 and leading an Industry ShopTalk discussion during the show on artificial intelligence. She will be moderating the upcoming webinar, Best Practices in Medical Device Engineering and will be leading an Automation Tour at Advanced Manufacturing Minneapolis. She will also be attending DesignCon and MD&M West 2025.

Daphne has previously participated in meetings of the IoPP Medical Device Packaging Technical Committee and served as a judge in awards programs held by The Tube Council and the Healthcare Compliance Packaging Council. She also received the Bert Moore Excellence in Journalism Award in the AIM Awards in 2012.

Follow Daphne on X at @daphneallen and reach her at [email protected].

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