Defence Advanced Manufacturing Strategy
This document describes how defence will increase the use of additive manufacturing to realise its potential benefits.
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Additive manufacturing offers a range of strategic and operational benefits, such as smarter supply chains, flexibility and design freedoms. If applied appropriately, it has the potential to change the way components are designed, developed, manufactured and supplied. For the operational commander, it provides choice of supply.
This is the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) first advanced manufacturing strategy. It emphasises improving supply chain resilience through dispersed networks of supply. Using additive manufacturing as the first step towards the wider use of advanced manufacturing techniques, the MOD seeks to benefit from an increased speed of response, shorter lead times, access to previously obsolete parts and improved environmental and operational sustainability.
The Defence Advanced Manufacturing Strategy sets out the risks to achieving the benefits described above, and outlines the activities required to mitigate them.
Who should read this publication
This strategy is aimed at professionals within the defence sector and is of value to anyone working with or within the MOD or its supply chain, to help them understand why and how we must adapt our approach to accelerate the pace of additive manufacturing adoption.
It will also be useful to the military operational community and those involved in the procurement and support of defence equipment and services, or planning and risk management of defence activities. It will outline their role in achieving significant benefits from using additive manufacturing techniques, and provide an insight to the MOD’s approach to additive manufacturing adoption to inform their own thinking and decisions.
The strategy has been developed with contributions from national experts, international allies, industrial partners, small to medium enterprises, academia and other UK government departments.