Authentise, a UK-based digital manufacturing software company, has joined the £38 million DECSAM (Digitally Enabled Competitive & Sustainable Additive Manufacturing) program led by Airbus. The four-year initiative, running from June 2024 to June 2028 under the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme and supported by Innovate UK and the UK Department for Business & Trade, aims to make laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) more cost-effective, productive, and sustainable for flight-ready aerospace components.
DECSAM brings together eleven partners to demonstrate an integrated, digitally connected additive-manufacturing supply chain covering alloy development, build strategies, post-processing, inspection, factory design, and scale-up. Airbus, a global aerospace manufacturer, serves as consortium lead, coordinating the technical objectives and industrial demonstrations. Other participants include Renishaw, a precision-engineering and metrology company; ASTM International UK, a standards organization; Authentise Ltd; the Manufacturing Technology Centre Ltd; GKN Aerospace Services Ltd; Additive Manufacturing Solutions Ltd; APEX Additive Technologies Ltd; Domin Ltd; the University of Sheffield; and ToffeeX Ltd. The total programme value is £38 million.
The consortium’s work is organized into four technical pillars. Performance focuses on materials, modelling, and physics-driven design. Productivity targets high-power lasers, beam shaping, advanced scan strategies, in-situ monitoring, and closed-loop control. Scalability covers end-to-end digital thread integration, automated sustainable-factory concepts, and efficient post-processing and inspection. Application will integrate the developed technologies into selected aerospace parts to demonstrate cost and performance benefits. Expected outcomes include ground- and flight-test demonstrators, validated recycled-powder routes, widened powder specifications, verified parameter themes, in-process monitoring software, and guidance supporting qualification and certification.
Within DECSAM, Authentise will implement its FLOWS manufacturing-execution system to establish an end-to-end digital thread across the additive-manufacturing supply chain. The company will define technical data packages and enable dynamic production scheduling across supply-chain and supply-network scenarios. These digital capabilities are designed to strengthen operational resilience and reliability while reducing production costs.
By combining advanced process control with digital-thread connectivity, the program seeks to accelerate qualification of sustainable metal additive-manufacturing technologies for flight applications, contributing to the UK’s long-term aerospace-innovation strategy.
Expanding Digital Integration in 3D Printing Software
In April 2025, UK-based software company Aibuild partnered with hardware manufacturer Massive Dimension to launch MD Software, a scalable platform that combines robotic extrusion systems with Aibuild’s parametric slicing, analytical tools, and automated design modules. The platform is designed to integrate with industrial, research, and educational manufacturing environments. According to Aibuild Co-founder and CEO Daghan Cam, the partnership marks the company’s transition to a fully platform-scaled model capable of delivering customized software solutions aligned with specific hardware configurations.
In parallel, Berlin-based design automation company trinckle also advanced digital manufacturing integration in 2025 by launching its fixturemate software within Stratasys’ GrabCAD Print Pro platform. The tool enables users to create jigs, fixtures, and manufacturing aids directly inside GrabCAD Print Pro through automated geometry generation based on user-defined parameters. Stratasys Vice President of Software Strategy Victor Gerdes stated that this update reduces lead times and training requirements by removing the need for specialized CAD skills, while trinckle CEO Florian Reichle described the release as part of a broader collaboration to expand fixturemate’s functionality through future updates.
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Featured photo shows Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) process in operation during metal additive manufacturing, Photo via Authentise.
