MATES and SAM (Sector Skills Strategy in Additive Manufacturing), both Erasmus+ funded EU Blueprint projects, have agreed to work in collaboration on Additive Manufacturing Technology. SAM is coordinated by EWF (The European Federation for Welding, Joining and Cutting), Belgium and aims to develop a system to identify and anticipate skills for the Additive Manufacturing sector in Europe in response to labour market needs.

Additive Manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, is one of the paradigm shifters analysed by MATES. MATES has uncovered information on the present impact of 3D printing in the maritime sector (shipbuilding and offshore renewable energy) and the expected trends for the future. In both sectors, additive manufacturing is expected to become mainstream during the period 2025 to 2030, either if there is not a so clear consensus on the impact of this technology in their labour market, at least in this period. The use of AM in manufacturing is expected to increase in the coming years, reaching 50% of the market potential between 2031 and 2038. Preliminary results on the future scenarios for shipbuilding and offshore renewable energy are available in the Strategy Baseline report. MATES is including trainings on 3D printing in one of the pilot experiences that will be carried out during 2020, addressing students of secondary education and VET.

SAM is currently carrying out two surveys (open until mid-October):

· Survey for Industry – for companies using or willing to use Additive Manufacturing in their future activity (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SAM-Industry)

· Survey for Research and Technology centres – for organisations involved in research, development and innovation of Additive Manufacturing (https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AMTechnologyTrends)

Both projects will work together to identify synergies to support Europe’s competitiveness in this innovative technology. Follow https://twitter.com/erasmusMates for updates. More information on SAM can be found at http://www.skills4am.eu/.