Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt from a special 21-page report on some of the most interesting developments and recent trends uncovered at Formnext 2021. It was written exclusively for the members of America Makes. Go to this page to learn more about membership. Twelve individuals from ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence contributed to the report.

Thankfully, Formnext is back in-person. This year, 17,859 people from 76 countries attended the four-day exposition in Frankfurt, Germany. This represents a decline from 2019, but several of the 606 exhibitors said the quality of conversations was better, compared to two years ago. The exhibition was spread across three halls, covering 30,000 sq m (322,917 sq ft) of floor space.

One day prior to the exposition, an international gathering of industry experts convened for the Standards Forum at Formnext. It was organized by U.S. Commercial Service, ASTM International, and ISO in partnership with Mesago, the organizers of Formnext. The full-day event focused on the industrialization of AM through standardization.

Software companies presented new design platforms and manufacturing execution system (MES) solutions. Many software products have emerged, almost to a point where it is becoming crowded. Users often must work with and coordinate between multiple products to produce designs for AM.

From our perspective, the event was a major success. The AM industry is advancing with new and improving materials, processes, applications, workflows, and end-to-end solutions. Formnext 2021 Digital Days will be held virtually November 30 – December 1, 2021. Formnext 2022 is planned for November 15–18, 2022, in Frankfurt.