AMUG (Additive Manufacturing Users Group), arguably the most important show for the additive manufacturing community, emceed by industry savant, Todd Grimm, caters to users of 3D printers and, secondarily, to vendors. AMUG 2021 relaunched on May 3, 2021, and engineering.com was in attendance. It was the first show to come back since the pandemic hit. The last AMUG conference, AMUG 2020, was held in Chicago and was attended by two thousand attendees. AMUG 2021 was postponed until a more tolerant venue could be found in Orlando. Both Orlando and Las Vegas, big travel and convention cities, have suffered the greatest loss of revenue from the pandemic and are eager to reopen to start making up for lost business.
It has been a long dry spell for the engineering community as well as for the event industry. Not since 3DEXPERIENCE World (April 2020) have we left the office to attend a show—unusual for an organization that has been known to attend 25 or more industry events during a year.
I sat in the front row on day 1, waiting for the event to start. The Doobie Brothers were singing Listen to the Music. It could have been the 1970s—except that everyone was masked. Attendees were filing in, fortified with scrambled eggs and bacon, just like every other event—except that they were dished out by servers behind tall Plexiglas shields.
For organizations that depend on events, the pandemic is an existential threat. Many have switched to virtual events. But AMUG courageously barreled ahead with a live, physical, weeklong event.
It’s hard to keep the pandemic out of our heads. The pandemic is not over … far from it. As I write this, India has had 13 days of over 300,000 cases a day, propelling worldwide numbers to a second peak that is higher than the first. But the U.S. has enjoyed a steady decline in new cases and here in Orlando, almost a thousand brave souls took a deep breath, thought about asking their bosses for hazard pay, and joined me for AMUG 2021.
Todd Grimm, master of ceremonies, was as usual, energetic as a plutonium pellet and with an infinite capacity for detail, laying out the rules of engagement. Industry veterans have maintained that conferences and trade shows are necessary for the face-to-face contact and the connection that only a physical meeting can provide. Clearly, with masks and social distancing, something has to give … and it has created some tension.
Grimm gave us permission to tell anyone not wearing a mask to put one on. The organizers of AMUG were themselves split on mask protocol. Several AMUG officers were unable to attend, citing corporate travel restrictions by U.S. companies or European bans on overseas travel.
An industry insider said that AMUG’s usual big exhibitors (3D Systems and Stratasys) were warned by their lawyers not to exhibit due to the potential liability from employees contracting the virus. However, other large companies were here. BASF, one of the biggest chemical companies in the world, had a large booth staffed by its Detroit-area operation, Forward AM.
The recommended social distancing of 6 feet was largely ignored. Seats at the general sessions were touching each other. Seating for meals was elbow to elbow. On the exhibit floor, masks were mostly off. How else would you eat or drink? The exhibit floor was where many meals were served. The few who discussed their vaccinations (the author is fully vaccinated) felt safe but wore masks anyway—if only to appease nervous attendees. It felt impolite to mention our vaccinations when others in attendance may not have received theirs yet.
For Users, by Users
Grimm reminded us that AMUG stands for additive manufacturing users group, placing emphasis on the last two words. It started over 32 years ago when 3D Systems users banded together. Grimm, an independent consultant specializing in 3D printing for industry, is worth the price of admission all by himself, dispensing detailed knowledge, deep insight—and a most welcome counterforce to the hype that has accompanied 3D printing since its inception.
Grimm pointed out failed attempts at popularizing 3D printing, including the MINI Yours Customized campaign, which let consumers order customized parts for their cars. The auto manufacturer gave no reason for discontinuing the campaign earlier this year but it’s possible that consumer designs failed to consider worst-case scenarios, such as the frailty of parts upon impact.
The world needs less plastic, while at the same time, industry screams for more metal 3D printing. Grimm gave several examples of metal 3D printer makers, all of whom have a build space of more than 2 feet by 2 feet by 2 feet. The biggest shown was (Platinum sponsor) DG Mori’s monster machine, the LASERTEC 4300 DED hybrid (additive and subtractive manufacturing), which has a Z dimension of almost 6 feet.
Media Room
Not only was there no media room at AMUG 2021 but most of the media itself seemed to be missing. They could have been unrecognizable behind masks, but as of day 3, only one other ex-media person was spotted. Although a who’s who of publications were listed as media sponsors, several print magazines were represented only by the latest issues of their magazines. We heard one online publication for the 3D printing media had enlisted a local photographer for all its coverage.
Exhibitors
The exhibit of any 3D printing trade show has always been dominated by the two anchors of Stratasys and 3D Systems. While both companies pulled out of AMUG 2021, they did have a few of their representatives in attendance, including 3D printing legend, Scott Crump, founder of Stratasys, who was there to present awards. However, all in all it was an extremely low profile for two very high-profile companies in the 3D printing industry.
All the same, exhibit space was taken by small companies, 3D printing service bureaus, consultants and start-ups, and for the first two days, the scene was just as lively as ever. This is due to the common trade show practice of curtaining off unused exhibit space, making even downsized shows seem full.
Big booths were taken by Essentium, Dyndrite, LuxCreo, ExOne, DMG MORI and BASF—all Diamond Sponsors of the event. We estimate about 40 percent of the main exhibit space was unused.
BASF, introduced as the “largest chemical company in the world,” was promoting its new Forward AM group, a consultancy that helps engineers understand how to design with BASF 3D printing materials, and had several such materials on display.
California-based LuxCreo, known for dental 3D printing and a line of custom-made eyeglass frames (BRAGi), may be expanding into industrial additive manufacturing with its LUX 3+ 3D printer for a smart factory application.
HP’s newly formed software group was showing Dyndrite’s 3D printing geometry kernel inside its Universal Build Manager.
It might be the size of the Massivit 5000 that attracts people to the booth, but it is the speed and low cost of production that keeps them interested, says Ido Eylon of Massivit, an Israeli-based 3D printer manufacturer.
All things considered, the AMUG organization deserves much credit for bringing back the industry trade show. There’s really no other way to see some of these big 3D printers for all the companies that are anxious to buy them. While the pandemic precautions taken at the event were less than clean room perfect, we are predicting (and hoping) that no spread of disease will result due to the diligence of the show organizers and the staff of the Orlando Hilton, where AMUG 2021 was held.