Additive manufacturing (AM) has attracted great interest in the tooling industry in recent years. Among the wide range of subtractive technologies, AM stands out as the only additive process with high expectations for both economic and environmental process optimization. Despite this, many tool and die makers are not prepared to develop AM expertise in-house or to acquire it externally. A study conducted by the author with over 20 companies shows that only 15% of companies are currently actively using this innovative technology. Looking to the future, however, 85% of companies say they plan to establish AM as a knowledge-critical and strategically essential sixth core technology within their operations.

In parallel with technological advances, the tooling industry is undergoing a profound transformation. Meeting environmental sustainability criteria has become imperative in an increasingly uncertain economic production environment. This requires rethinking at both the manufacturing and organizational levels. Companies must strategically position themselves for economic and environmental success as the production paradigm shifts.

Based on further insdustry-focused research by the speaker, several action areas will be derived and examples will be shown of how AM supports the vision of combining the ecologically necessary with the economically successful. Finally, the presentation will highlight the role of additive manufacturing in the new production paradigm of "eco-effectiveness" and how companies can adopt AM to position themselves resiliently for the future.