Who are we?

SAM project is a Sector Skills Strategy in Additive Manufacturing which aims to tackle the current European need for developing an effective system to identify and anticipate the right skills for the Additive Manufacturing (AM) sector demands in response to the increasing labour market needs, thus, contributing for the smart, sustainable and inclusive growth of the AM sector.
The consortium, composed by 16 partners of which EWF is the coordinator, is strongly committed to support the growth, innovation, and competitiveness of the AM sector. All partners have expertise in manufacturing technology and/or in the provision of education, and all of them are recognised players in the field. SAM project encompasses industrial representatives from the AM sector, organisations involved in the fields of Vocational Education and Training (Vocational Education and Training (VET)) and/or Higher Education (HE), and umbrella organisations.

The project has been co-funded by European Commission, under the framework of the Blueprint for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills call, launched by ERASUMS+ programme.

Why the need for a strategic Approach for AM?

  • Disruptive challenges in AM (e.g. decentralized supply chain, intelligent materials)
  • Digitization
  • Green and circular economy
  • Technology fast evolution – skills shortage and gaps
  • Current methodologies addressing skills needs in AM are reaction-based
  • Absence of a prediction and planning approaches
  • Fragmentation of AM landscape initiatives

Challenges?

As a consortium of project partners from all over Europe, we are looking to develop a central system (AM Observatory) for the identification of the AM skills necessary to supply industry now and in the future. SAM will engage key-industry stakeholders and cover the entire value chain in Europe.