Advanced Manufacturing Crisis Production Response (AMCPR)

Additive Manufacturing as Solution to Supply Chain Crises

Stemming from the urgent need for PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, the AMCPR was created to coordinate additive manufacturing’s (AM) crisis response via the AMCPR Exchange – an accessible and scalable digital model repository and platform. The Exchange hosts strategic AM parts for rapid production, acts a conduit to regulatory reviews, and provides a platform for needs request to connect with designers and manufacturers for safe and effective solutions.

What is AMCPR?

AMCPR stands for Advanced Manufacturing Crisis Production Response. The mission of the AMCPR is to advance US manufacturing supply chain resiliency and responsiveness while simultaneously preparing the nation for future, and unknown, crises. The AMCPR creates a lasting strategic framework for AM crisis response capabilities by providing trusted access to capable supply chains and vetted designs, increasing regulatory awareness, and strengthening workforce readiness.

How does the AMCPR’s framework address supply chain shortages?

The framework focuses on three main areas that will help better position the advanced manufacturing community to solve supply chain crises in the future:

• Access to suppliers, designers, and vetted parts through the AMCPR Exchange to ensure quick deployment of resources to solve supply chain shortages
• Proactively addressing workforce readiness to ensure the future workforce is trained to respond in a time of crisis
• Regulatory awareness so designers and manufacturers understand the boundaries they need to operate within

How does AMCPR extend beyond COVID-19 response?

While AMCPR uses the additive manufacturing industry’s COVID-19 response efforts as a proof of concept, the goal of AMCPR is to create a framework that can be applied across all advanced manufacturing sectors to solve supply chain gaps in a variety of potential crises and supply chain disruptions.

The AMCPR recently engaged America Makes members and AM ecosystem stakeholders to demonstrate the strength and end-to-end production capability of the AMCPR in 7 hypothetical crisis scenarios of varying complexity.

What is the AMCPR Exchange?

The AMCPR Exchange is an accessible, scalable digital model repository and platform designed to address current and future manufacturing supply chain crises. The AMCPR Exchange hosts strategic AM parts for rapid production, acts as a conduit to existing national repositories, and provides a platform for needs requesters to connect with capable designers and manufacturers during supply chain disruptions.

Why execute test scenarios?

America Makes and AMCPR recently executed 7 hypothetical crisis scenarios to assess the capability of the AMCPR and AMCPR Exchange. These scenarios included diverse representatives from the AM Ecosystem and tested AMCPR program and Exchange processes including design generation, design review, supplier production, part review, and supplier distribution.

The purpose of scenario testing is to comprehensively and systematically assess AMCPR program processes and the AMCPR Exchange’s performance across several complex dimensions. The results of these scenario tests help to identify current capability gaps and inform the future Exchange enhancements. Future testing will evaluate the AMCPR against new challenges to expand preparedness to an even wider range of crisis situations.

Why is America Makes managing the AMCPR?

As the nation’s leading public-private partnership for additive manufacturing (AM) education and technology, America Makes is uniquely positioned to convene and coordinate the additive and advanced manufacturing community to respond to critical supply chain needs.

What does AMCPR mean for my company?

As whole, the AMCPR will raise the awareness of the advanced manufacturing community’s capabilities and its strength as a solution for supply chain shortages.

By participating in the AMCPR, you and your organization can:

• Visibly demonstrate your additive manufacturing capabilities with respect to design, production, and delivery
• Substantively influence the development of a national crisis production response capability
• Gain visibility as a leader in the advanced manufacturing ecosystem
• Capture shared investment by joining a community of action with cost share applied to America Makes membership

How can my company get involved?

• Visit the AMCPR Exchange to register your needs requests or design/manufacturing capabilities
• Contact America Makes at amcpr.info@americamakes.us to learn more about the program, express interest in participating, and with any further questions
• Follow America Makes on social media (@AmericaMakes) and look out for future webinars, workshops, and engagement opportunities advertised on the AMCPR website

AMCPR Completes Crisis Scenario Testing

America Makes’ Advanced Manufacturing Crisis Production Response (AMCPR) program arose from a coordinated effort to respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and the resulting shortage in personal protective equipment (PPE). The initiative specifically helped to mobilize the U.S. AM ecosystem, including government agencies, designers, and manufacturers, to supply critical PPE to frontline workers.

Now, as supplies stabilize, the AMCPR is shifting its focus to creating a lasting framework that enhances U.S. supply chain resilience. The program’s explicit goal is to advance the cause of U.S. manufacturing responsiveness and competitiveness while simultaneously preparing the nation for future, and unknown, crises.

A critical component of the enduring AMCPR infrastructure is the AMCPR Exchange – the extension of the America Makes COVID-19 Response Portal, further enhanced to support resilient, rapid prototyping & scalable production of AM parts to support various industries. The Exchange hosts strategic AM parts for rapid production, acts as a conduit to existing national repositories, and provides a platform for needs requesters to connect with capable designers and manufacturers. The Exchange will formally launch in the coming weeks – with further information to follow.

To test and assess the capability of the AMCPR and Exchange, America Makes identified seven hypothetical national crisis scenarios. These scenarios included diverse representatives from the AM Ecosystem (including America Makes members) and were designed to test end-to-end AMCPR program and Exchange processes, including design generation, design review, supplier production, and supplier distribution.

The purpose of scenario testing was to comprehensively and systematically assess AMCPR program processes and the AMCPR Exchange’s performance across several complex dimensions. The results of these scenario tests help to identify current capability gaps, refine the prioritized requirement set, and inform the future Exchange enhancements. Each of the seven scenarios was successful in printing the requested parts and/or identifying critical path steps to take in future scenario testing.

To learn more about scenario testing and the impact and outputs of each scenario, click on the image below. Please contact us with any AMCPR-related questions.