During Formnext 2021, the world's largest trade fair for additive manufacturing, the Austrian additive manufacturing industry triumphed with numerous innovations and a wide range of services across the entire additive value chain.
After nearly two years of almost exclusively digital encounters, the international 3D printing community met at this year's Formnext November 16–19, 2021, in the Frankfurt exhibition halls. Under strict 2G conditions, the technology experts, and thousands of industry visitors from all over the world exchanged insights on the latest developments in the additive manufacturing industry. The more than 600 exhibitors from over 50 countries demonstrated very impressively that the industry has by no means paused in the last two years but instead made a great leap forward in development.
Austria prominently represented
This year, Austrian companies were well represented, attracting international attention with numerous innovations and a remarkably wide range of services. Companies such as Alphacam Austria GmbH, Cubicure GmbH, EVO-tech GmbH, Genera Printer GmbH, Incus GmbH, Lithoz GmbH, Metalpine GmbH or UpNano GmbH were on site with their stands and presented their latest machines, materials, and an innovative range of services and solutions. Together with other international members of the AM-Austria technology platform, including 3YOURMINDS GmbH, AM Ventures Holding GmbH and EOS GmbH, these companies work tirelessly to modernize the national and international production industry.
Austrian innovations are internationally recognized
Austria plays an above-average active and innovative role in the international 3D printing industry despite its comparatively small size. This development was already reflected in the European Patent Office report between 2014 and 2017, where Austria recorded worldwide the highest rate of increase in patent applications in additive manufacturing. Similarly, the latest Wohlers Report 2021 illustrated thatAustrian additive manufacturing industry has the most AM manufacturers per inhabitant worldwide, even ahead of the USA, Germany, and China.
The local companies, national universities, and research institutions—including all the AM Austria members FH Campus Wien, FH Joanneum, FH Kärnten, FH Oberösterreich, FH Technikum Wien, FOTEC Research, Fraunhofer Research, Joanneum Research, Johannes Kepler University, Montanuniversität, TU Graz, TU Wien, University Innsbruck and Wood K Plus – enjoy international recognition and represent an essential future factor for Austria as a business location and its domestic production companies.
About AM-Austria: The technology platform AM Austria is a non-profit association that has been committed to promoting and supporting the Austrian additive manufacturing industry since 2018. The platform is supported by the Federal Ministry of the Republic of Austria for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK), and it pursues the goal of developing Austria into an innovative pioneer in the additive manufacturing field to raise this technology’s enormous potential for this location.
