First things first, folks: if you’re planning on attending AMS 2026, February 24-26 in NYC, and you haven’t registered yet, you can do so here. We’ll consult some ghosts of AMS’s past to get some perspective on what you can expect from the conference!
Why Strategy?
Before that, though, why do strategies matter for the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, in the first place? 3DPrint.com‘s Executive Editor Joris Peels wrote an excellent piece on this late last year.
At the end of the article, Joris sums up, “Some 3D printing businesses are failing now because of bad luck. They need money where there isn’t any to be had. Others have just not executed well enough on their promises. Others have performance, but not enough is expected to follow to get people to part with more money. But, there are also a lot of businesses in additive that never had a strategy. Do you?”
That simple, concluding question epitomizes how AM companies, even those who think their business strategy is already fine, can benefit from attending AMS.
Financial Strategies
Participation in AMS by investors from firms like Cantor Fitzgerald and Stifel set the tone for the event and distinguish it as the only conference where the business of AM is always front and center. This makes it a perfect place to gain the perspective necessary to help formulate your enterprise’s financial strategy. 3DPrint’s Vanesa Listek does a great job covering such topics, including in this article about AMS 2024.
AMS 2024 “Investment Strategies” panel with moderator Tyler Benster and panelists John Hartner, Osman H. Ahmed, and Hugo da Silva. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
In that write-up on 2024’s Venture Capital session, Vanesa noted, “The panelists also discussed the challenges and opportunities of the market’s fragmentation. With many players and technologies competing for attention, uniqueness and customer focus have become even more relevant. …[According to the panelists,] partnerships and consolidations [have the potential] to address customer problems more effectively and stand out in a crowded market. Looking ahead, the speakers gave a decisive nod to the roles of software and artificial intelligence in unlocking new capabilities and improving design and manufacturing processes.”
Clearly, all those angles continue to be just as relevant as ever, highlighting how AMS enables attendees to stay ahead of the curve. As was already mentioned, finance runs deeply throughout all the sessions at the show, but it is most prominently featured on the afternoon of AMS 2026 Day 1 (February 24), in the Public Markets and Printing Money sessions, as well as in the evening session about AM Investment Strategies on Day 2 (February 25).
Business Development Strategies
This is probably my favorite angle to the whole conference. It’s what fascinates me about watching the industry evolve, day by day. There’s really so much good stuff to go home with, throughout virtually every moment of the conference, when it comes to business development, as I described in this article about AMS 2024.
But for anyone who is most interested in business development, I think you’ll want to check out the following:
- Session 1: AM at Scale (9:40-11:25 AM Eastern), on Day 2 (February 25)
- Session 3: Aerospace and Defense (2:55-4:30 PM), also on Day 2
- The CEO Roundtable, 2:00-2:45 PM, on Day 3 (February 26).
Again, I think that perspective on business development is one of the show’s real highlights, as Joris Peels covered in this article on AMS 2025.
Aaron Pearson also wrote a great article covering similar themes about last year’s show.
Technological Strategies
Finally, AM is, of course, a constantly transforming technological field at the same time that it is an industry. Thus, just because AMS is heavy on business, that doesn’t mean it’s light on discussions of tech. Helping the industry navigate the intersection between both sides of the equation is one of the things the show does best.
With that in mind, attendees who are most specifically interested in technical questions won’t want to miss programming like Session 2: Automation and Software (1:40-2:50 PM) on Day 1; the panel “Really Big Parts for Energy” on Day 2 (10:35 AM); and the talk immediately following (11:15 AM) by Joseph Crabtree of AMT, “The Commoditization of Hardware and the Rise of AI in AM.” I’ll also be moderating a panel on “Additively Manufactured Electronics at Scale” on Day 3 at 11:25 AM. Right before that, at 11:10 AM, we are honored to have Scott Miller, Director of Technology at NextFlex, present on “Additively Manufactured Electronics Technology, Opportunity, and Industrial Base.”
AMS 2025 “Enablers to Scale Healthcare in AM” panel with moderator Naomi Nathan and panelists Amy Alexander, Brigitte de Vet-Veithen, and Jenny Chen. Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.
The most intriguing content from a technological perspective, though, may be Session 2: Healthcare (1:00-2:05 PM) on Day 2. Scott Dunham of Additive Manufacturing Research will share his forecast for the dental market segment, after which there will be panels on dental and oncology.
3DPrint.com’s Sarah Saunders did a masterful job detailing the relationship between deep tech and building a business case in her coverage of last year’s healthcare session.
Everyone Gets a Strategy
No matter what part of the AM industry you’re in, you need a strategy, and there’s a good chance AMS 2026 can put you on the path to developing the right one for you, or simply refining the one you already have. Don’t forget to register here before midnight EST tonight!
This piece was originally seen in AMS: The Preprint.
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