Strengthening the Sustainability of Additive Manufacturing through Data‐Driven Approaches and Workforce Development

Abstract

The additive manufacturing (AM) industry is rapidly developing and expanding, thereby becoming an important and integral component of the digital revolution in manufacturing practices. While the engineering aspects of AM are under intensive research, there still remain many chances to strengthen the sustainability of additive manufacturing (SAM). Cogently increasing the AM community's attention to SAM is vital for developing the AM industry sustainably from the bottom up. The digital nature of AM provides new opportunities for acquiring, storing, and utilizing data to strengthen SAM through data‐driven approaches. Herein, spotlight on SAM is shone upon and it is placed on a more concrete footing. The corresponding advances in data‐driven methods that can strengthen SAM are featured, such as optimizing designs for AM, reducing material waste, and developing databases. How the AM workforce can be developed and grown as a collaboration between the industry, government, and academia to extensively harness the full potential of AM as well as mitigate its adversarial social impact is discussed. Finally, several critical digital techniques that have the potential to further strengthen SAM in the factory of the future, including hybrid manufacturing, Internet of Things, and machine learning and artificial intelligence, are highlighted.