MassMEP, in partnership with UMass Amherst and Wentworth Institute of Technology, offers a hands-on, three-day course designed to help manufacturers identify where additive manufacturing can deliver real value. Led by industry experts David Follette (UMass Amherst) and Ted Green (Wentworth), Applying Additive Manufacturing to Your Manufacturing goes beyond the basics to show practical, shop-floor applications of 3D printing.
The first two days take place on-site at participating companies, where teams learn about materials, design principles, and applications, then walk their own production floors to spot opportunities for 3D printing. Participants often redesign existing parts or create new ones—such as fixtures, jigs, prototypes, and small-run components—that can be produced quickly and cost-effectively. The final day is hosted at the UMass ADDFab facility, where attendees see advanced metal, composite, and flexible polymer printing technologies in action and learn when outsourcing high-end printing makes sense.
One success story comes from Belt Technologies Inc., which reduced the weight of a critical pulley component by 70% using 3D-printed parts—improving performance and speeding testing and development. As interest and results grow, the program continues to help manufacturers see that 3D printing is far more than prototypes or “trinkets”—it’s a practical tool for innovation, efficiency, and competitive advantage.