ISO/TC 261 ‘Additive Manufacturing’ is the ISO committee responsible for the development of standards in the area of AM. On 13 September, the liaison between the committee and CECIMO was approved, allowing CECIMO to provide input on the formation of standards, which have a major impact on the way companies carry out their AM business.
By joining ISO/TC 261, CECIMO will be able to ensure that developments in regulation and standardisation are aligned with the needs of businesses engaged in the AM sector. This appears all the more important, as high-level discussions between industry and European policymakers have pointed to standardisation as a top priority for the growth of AM.
Consensus-based, market-driven standards are a better instrument than top-down regulations to reflect the actual needs and requirements of market players in a fast-evolving technology ecosystem like that of AM. With this thought in mind, CECIMO consistently supports the adoption of international standards and contributes to a number of other initiatives. For instance, the association has a partnership with ASTM Committee F42, and is a member of the European Commission’s Joint MSP/DEI Working Group to provide a comprehensive plan to foster standardisation in support of digitising European industry.
