The inaugural edition of Additive Manufacturing Europe, the pan-European business show for 3D printing, took place on 28-30 June at RAI Amsterdam. The show saw a number of new launches and attracted 2,371 visitors from 58 countries.

Highlights from the show floor included Trumpf’s TruPrint 1000 3D metal printer, alongside the new Zortrax M300 and Leapfrog's Bolt and Xcel. ColorFabb also launched their steelFill material, while SDD demonstrated the Gettoblaster and Wasp introduced the 3MT printer. Other exhibitors included BigRep, EnvisionTEC, Formlabs, Höganäs, Mcor / AGA 3D Color Solutions, Prodways, Smit Röntgen (Philips) and Ultimaker.

This edition focused on the fastest growing vertical sectors - healthcare, aerospace and automotive and applications for these were represented throughout the event. Ultimaker, for example, demonstrated the use of customised prosthetics in partnership with Open Bionics alongside aerospace prototyping in a wind tunnel and engine parts fitted to an actual Audi RS5 with Eventuri.

The conference program, sponsored by SmarTech Markets Publishing, was split by the same vertical sectors and sessions were consistently busy. Speakers included Joseph Robinson, Stryker, Dr Muhanad Hatamleh, King’s College Hospital, Karsten Tegtmeyer, Dentsbay, Dr Grégory Nolens, CERHUM, Marko Bosman, Fokker-GKN Aerospace, Hayden Osborn, Boeing, Dr Chris Sutcliffe, Renishaw / University of Liverpool, Dr Phil Reeves, Stratasys Strategic Consulting, Sven Martens, Airbus APWorks, and Stuart Banyard, KW Special Projects, among others. 

The high level of visitors to the show was immediately evident, with visitors from organizations including BMW, KLM, Philips, Stryker, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Boeing, Unilever, Adidas, Alstom, BIC, Canon, Deloitte, Konica Minolta, Médecins sans Frontières, NATO and the NHS.

During the event, UL also presented three workshops, covering some of the most important topics in the industry, from understanding the benefits and limitations of different 3D printing technologies and materials through to advanced design and testing. It attracted delegates from as far away as Japan. 

Lisa Milburn, Managing Director, commented: "Thank you to our exhibitors, visitors and partners for their support of our first edition. We are encouraged by the number of serious business discussions onsite and the high level of visitors, giving us a good foundation to build upon. We look forward to working with all our stakeholders to develop this into Europe's premier business show for 3D printing."

The next event in the series is Additive Manufacturing Americas 2016, taking place 7-9 December at the Pasadena Convention Center. Additive Manufacturing Europe will return to RAI Amsterdam on 27-29 June 2017.

Quotes from exhibitors:

Jules Lejeune, The 3D Printing Association: “Like the show itself, for the 3D Printing Association, Additive Manufacturing Europe 2016 was a new beginning. 3DPA is in the process of transformation from being a virtual member platform to becoming an independent, member driven association with the aim to advance the common interests of additive manufacturing businesses. Additive Manufacturing Europe was an important first step in this process and the format of the show enabled us to establish new contacts, explain our vision and collect input for our agenda for 2017 and beyond (see also http://i-am-2017.com).”

Rob Engelen, Sales Director, EMEA, Active Power: “Additive Manufacturing Europe enabled us to engage in valuable discussions with the C-level suite and other senior executives from some of the industry’s leading manufacturers. We had the opportunity to have thoughtful dialogue about the importance of power quality and how even short electrical interruptions can result in scrapped product, missed shipments, poor product quality and reduced labor productivity.”

Gert van Wakeren, Sales Engineer Laser Technology, Trumpf: “We had three really busy days. The visitors we saw were of very high quality, from industrial background, from major tier 1 suppliers and OEMs. We have enough leads to follow up on a worldwide basis.”

Ultimaker BV: "Our presence at the Additive Manufacturing Europe allowed us to showcase some of our most innovative user cases to the global market. Meeting so many of the key players in the 3D printer market, in an accessible international location as Amsterdam, was of great value." 

Davide Neri, Marketing & International Sales, WASP: “Just back from Additive Manufacturing Europe that took place in Amsterdam, and our first impression is that now it is clearly targeting a B2B audience, so the people we met and the leads we collected are very qualified. It is a shift that seems coherent with the digital technology market trend, moving from a consumer market, focused on makers and hobbyists who represented the early adopters' wave, to a more B2B oriented target.”

Bartek Cymer, Marketing Director, Zortax: "Additive Manufacturing Europe was a great opportunity to present our products – the elements of the fully integrated Zortrax Ecosystem – and inspire people with the possible applications of 3D printing technology. Happy to say that there were lots of visitors: engineers, entrepreneurs, designers and 3D printing geeks, all wanted to see our next best models and the new 3D printer – Zortrax M300. We are really satisfied and excited that we could be there and make our own contribution to this amazing event."