According to the latest market research report from Additive Manufacturing (AM) Research, “AM Software Markets 2025: Analysis, Data and Forecast,” software is the next frontier for the sector. This segment alone is expected to generate $6.78 billion in 2033, compared to $2.44 billion this year. Manufacturing execution system (MES) integration, in particular, is emerging as a crucial factor in ensuring efficiency, quality, and traceability.
Bassetti Group, known for its TEEXMA platform and technical data management solutions, is positioning itself as a key enabler of this transition. In a recent interview, Dale Delgado, Vice President of Global AM Sales, and Rudy Charlery, Senior Global Product Manager for AM, discussed how Bassetti is bridging the gap between research and production with its digital thread approach.
Building a Digital Thread for Additive Manufacturing
Bassetti’s digital thread is structured into three phases: As Designed, As Manufactured, and As Serviced. This structure ensures that data is captured and utilized throughout the product lifecycle.
According to Delgado, “In the As Designed phase, companies are really looking for the flexibility of options. They’re going to take a product that they currently have and try to optimize it or change it for 3D printing, or they may look at just new projects that are done specifically for 3D printing as a process. Either way, they’re looking at different build options, and these options are going to be based on materials, what processes they can use, what post-processes they have to use, or what the geometry can be.”
During the design phase, engineers evaluate build options, simulate manufacturing processes, and assess materials. The manufacturing stage focuses on order management, powder tracking, machine monitoring, and quality assurance. Finally, the service phase ensures traceability, performance validation, and continuous improvement through product feedback mechanisms.
Charlery further explained the role of data management in this system, stating, “We use our TEEXMA platform to connect to our customers’ entire ecosystem. This includes CAD, ERP, PLM, and MES systems to ensure seamless data flow across the organization. With our API and connectors, companies can reduce manual data entry and errors while improving efficiency across the entire additive manufacturing process.”
TEEXMA platform wheel illustrating the range of solutions that power the TEEXMA for Additive Manufacturing digital thread. Image courtesy of Bassetti.
MES and AI-Driven Optimization
Bassetti’s acquisition of 3DTrust in 2021 strengthened its capabilities in MES. 3DTrust, originally developed within Airbus’s incubator, specialized in tracking AM processes, ensuring compliance, and optimizing production workflows.
“What we really wanted to do is build upon our decades of expertise in the product development lifecycles and add the capabilities to support a new processing technology. Now we’re trying to stay at the forefront of this whole Industry 4.0 journey, including digital transformation, digital simulation, data analytics, IoT, and additive manufacturing,” Delgado explained.
Artificial intelligence is also shaping the future of Bassetti’s offerings. AI-driven analytics improve material selection, process parameters, and predictive maintenance.
“AI in AM is about structured data. By capturing and linking manufacturing insights, we enhance process optimization and reduce failures. But it’s not just AI—we’re seeing new trends like synthetic intelligence, which is more about human-like reasoning rather than just running on large data sets,” Delgado added.
TEEXMA for Additive Manufacturing digital thread, showing how data flows across the As-Designed, As-Manufactured, and As-Serviced phases.
Charlery emphasized the importance of automation in the AM process, adding, “Our MES capabilities allow companies to automatically trigger workflows based on specific events, such as new powder batch arrivals or design updates. This automation ensures that all steps in the AM process follow approved methods, improving quality and reducing risk.”
Market Position and Competitive Edge
Unlike traditional AM software providers focusing solely on print preparation or simulation, Bassetti’s strength lies in its broader industrial applications. The TEEXMA platform caters not just to AM but also to materials management, maintenance, and compliance. This flexibility allows companies to standardize technical expertise across multiple manufacturing processes. In contrast, most MES developers focused on AM are building technology essentially from the ground up to integrate into existing manufacturing operations.
Additionally, partnerships are a key component of Bassetti’s strategy. “We do know that there are other things out there, other systems, other software that people use. For example, one of the most widely adopted solutions is often used primarily for its slicer capabilities. However, Bassetti doesn’t have a slicer software because we didn’t feel the need to buy one or create one, since there are already plenty out there. But we do capture that slicer data and those files, and we incorporate them and keep them in this digital thread, because this tells you exactly how a part was made and shows all the data inputs and tools and everything that we used to make it,” Delgado said.
In other words, Bassetti doesn’t force companies into a closed ecosystem. Instead, the firm integrates with existing tools available in the industry, ensuring Bassetti’s customers can leverage their software investments while benefiting from the digital thread.
Future Outlook
Looking ahead, Bassetti aims to expand its AI-driven automation capabilities and strengthen its role in AM production scalability. As the AM industry moves toward serial production, data-driven insights will be critical for quality assurance and process standardization.
The company is also investing in metrics to quantify the impact of its solutions. “We’re working closely with customers to track time-to-market improvements and cost savings. The future of AM isn’t just about making parts—it’s about making them smarter and more efficiently. But what we see today is that a lot of companies are still in the phase of structuring their data before they can fully leverage it. Once they have it centralized, linked, and secured, they can start to really measure ROI on things like material savings, failure reductions, and efficiency improvements,” Delgado emphasized.
With a strong foundation in digital thread management and MES integration, Bassetti is poised to play a pivotal role in the AM sector’s transformation. As companies seek greater traceability and process optimization, solutions like TEEXMA will be instrumental in defining the next era of industrial 3D printing.
All images courtesy of Bassetti.
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