A maturity assessment model for metal additive manufacturing: additive manufacturing readiness levels

Despite many promises, metal additive manufacturing (MAM) adoption is still limited within the industry. To effectively and successfully implement MAM, companies need to assess their maturity status quo, combined with the MAM technology maturity, at both organisational and operational levels. However, existing maturity models (MMs) are either only dedicated to just one of these levels or are not adapted to MAM. Thus, this paper proposes an original and tailored MM: the Additive Manufacturing Readiness Levels (AMRL), a multicriteria MM to evaluate the maturity of a MAM technology coupled with a use case, offering a context-aware approach that bridges technological capability and operational applicability. The model features 8 dimensions, divided into 22 sub-items to be assessed, referring to Industry 5.0 pillars, including environmental and social considerations. To develop and validate the proposal, an iterative methodology is followed where the AMRL is applied to compare the maturity of three Directed Energy Deposition technologies coupled with nine use cases in the context of a French Technology Transfer Centre. Direct interviews with experts and measures of agreement granted validation. AMRL aims to contribute to the adoption of MAM by assisting decision makers. Future research could investigate its use in different industry sectors and decision configurations.