During a recent tour of Materialise’s global headquarters in Leuven, I was given a rare glimpse into the company’s aerospace 3D printing operations.
The Belgian software firm runs a contract manufacturing service that supplies fully certified components for the aerospace and aviation industries. Leveraging a fleet of FDM and SLS machines, the company produces a wide range of flight-ready polymer parts. These appear in various commercial aircraft, including Airbus’s airliners and the Dornier 328 turboprop.
I sat down with Jan Van Espen, Digital Intelligence Manager, and Erik de Zeeuw, Market Manager of Certified Manufacturing, to learn more about Materialise’s aerospace 3D printing capabilities.
They highlighted the company’s unique position as a certified supplier of flight-ready parts for Airbus, backed by AIPI 03-02-029 accreditation for 3D printing with Ultem 9085CG. The 3D printing software developer also holds EN 9100 aerospace certification for both its polymer 3D printing and Bremen-based metal additive manufacturing services.
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To date, Materialise has 3D printed upwards of 500,000 aerospace parts, industrializing over 4,000 different certified flying components. Both aerospace experts acknowledged metal AM’s critical role in “superhero applications,” like jet engines and gearboxes. However, Materialise primarily delivers the “unsung heroes” for Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) that keep airliner fleets operational, like cabin components and discontinued replacement parts.
De Zeeuw described additive manufacturing as “another tool in your toolbox,” highlighting significant advantages in time, cost, and fuel efficiency. It enables Materialise customers to access new polymer 3D printed parts in just days or weeks, compared to the months required by traditional methods. “Customers are often surprised by how quickly we can industrialize components,” De Zeeuw added.
Aerospace 3D printing at Materialise HQ
Materialise’s aerospace production focuses primarily on polymer 3D printing for low-critical components. At its Leuven facility, the company splits its output roughly evenly between FDM and SLS technologies, depending on part geometry and production volume requirements.
Most of this work supports aircraft cabin components for MRO activities. These applications typically involve high-mix, low-volume production runs to support reconfigurations or layout changes in aircraft interiors. For instance, Materialise frequently manufactures ducting elements and small structural brackets that require minimal post-processing.
The Belgian company began working with Airbus in 2015, initially supplying FDM-printed components for the A350 XWB after obtaining EN9100 and EASA 21G certification. The partnership quickly evolved into a key element of Airbus’s cabin upgrade strategy. By 2018, Materialise was deploying its in-house FDM systems to manufacture custom spacer panels. These were reportedly the first passenger-visible, 3D printed parts to appear in commercial aircraft cabins.
The components, which fill gaps between overhead storage bins, achieved full bionic design certification and were 15% lighter than conventionally produced alternatives. By 2021, Materialise was 3D printing 100 different kinds of flight-ready parts for the A350, with some 26,000 units installed across the global fleet.
2021 also saw Materialise become qualified to 3D print SLS flight-ready parts for Airbus. The agreement saw Materialise fabricate parts using EOS’ flame-retardant polyamide (PA) powder, PA 2241 FR. This move marked Airbus’ initial foray into SLS additive manufacturing. Materialise and EOS became the first companies approved to 3D print parts under Airbus Process Specification AIPS 03-07-022. This specification sets the requirements for fabricating flight-ready parts using laser sintering.
Elsewhere, Materialise previously partnered with 328 Support Services (now Deutsche Aircraft GmbH) to produce plastic spare parts for the Dornier 328 aircraft. These spares are lighter, cheaper, and faster to make than traditional alternatives, demonstrating the value of additive manufacturing for producing high-quality, on-demand aftermarket parts.
De Zeeuw called these the “unsung heroes” of aerospace 3D printing. While important, they are less flashy than “superhero applications,” like 3D printed jet engine parts, which Materialise does not serve directly. For Van Espen, the engine and gearbox markets are “jumping on metal AM the most.” This is thanks to the weight reduction, design freedom, and fuel efficiency advantages of 3D printing.
Indeed, one of the most well-known aerospace 3D printing examples is GE’s fuel nozzle tips, which are 25% lighter and five times more durable than conventionally manufactured versions. Each GE Aerospace LEAP engine contains 19 of these 3D printed nozzles, boosting fuel efficiency by 15% compared to CFM56 engines. While Materialise has not yet entered this market, its on-demand, MRO 3D printing service plays a crucial role in keeping commercial airliners flight-ready.
Materialise’s additive manufacturing advantage for aerospace
During our conversation, De Zeeuw and Van Espen explained that Materialise technology has become a critical cog in the aerospace additive manufacturing ecosystem. In addition to its contract manufacturing service, the company offers CO-AM, an industrial 3D printing software that supports the production of high-quality, repeatable parts.
According to De Zeeuw, the platform enables aerospace companies to scale their manufacturing capabilities more than alternative enterprise systems, which often limit growth. “They lack systems to support that scaling, and it cannot be done with traditional ERP or MES systems,” he said.
Van Espen observed that many aerospace manufacturers “lack confidence” in additive manufacturing’s ability to meet stringent industry standards consistently. Materialise seeks to address these concerns with CO-AM, which is designed to “increase the confidence in 3D printing for critical parts.”
Materialise CO-AM is an open, cloud-based platform that connects a range of software tools for planning, managing, and optimizing manufacturing workflows. By integrating tools from both Materialise and third-party vendors, users can streamline critical operations and scale additive manufacturing more efficiently.
Among its capabilities, CO-AM offers automatic 3D printed support generation, end-to-end traceability, quality control, and secure data management. The platform supports real-time monitoring of build processes, centralizes material and machine data, and enables digital certification workflows.
These capabilities help manufacturers meet rigorous regulatory standards while improving production efficiency and repeatability. “For medical and aerospace combined, more than one million serial metal parts have already been printed via our backbone systems,” Van Espen revealed.
How does Materialise’s software differentiate from the competition? For Van Espen, the advantage lies in the fact that the company validates its software in-house. Unlike companies that develop software in isolation, Materialise develops, tests, and deploys its platforms within its certified production environments. This close integration, Van Espen claimed, enables the company to anticipate challenges five to ten years ahead of its competitors.
Materialise’s dual role as both a service bureau and software provider grounds its development cycles in practical, real-world demands. By serving high-volume clients in the aerospace and medical sectors, the company focuses beyond short-term trends. “When they talk short term, they mean at least three years,” Van Espen noted.
The Leuven-based firm develops long-term roadmaps with clients to ensure close alignment with product expectations and outcomes. It also fosters close relationships with 3D printer manufacturers, ensuring the software is compatible with most industrial metal and polymer 3D printers on the market. “We connect to almost every professional machine,” explained De Zeeuw. He added that few competitors can match the scale, maturity, or testing infrastructure of Materialise, which boasts 35 years of 3D printing experience.
Certifying flight: process control in aerospace 3D printing
In highly regulated sectors such as aerospace, traceability and quality assurance are essential. Consistent material properties and manufacturing quality underpin both safety and compliance. For Materialise’s aerospace specialists, delivering certified, repeatable results remains one of additive manufacturing’s most formidable challenges.
“When you’re printing, you’re making your properties while you’re printing,” explained De Zeeuw. “If you start with bad material, you won’t be able to correct it.” Even when starting with high-quality feedstock, outcomes can vary between 3D printers unless processes are tightly aligned. “Process control is key,” he added. “You need to have evidence of your output, because the authorities recognize this risk.”
Materialise overcomes these challenges by leveraging statistical data recorded throughout all production runs. This information is leveraged in process control tools, increasing confidence that each 3D printed part matches the intended property requirements.
The need for consistency extends far beyond the build. Van Espen underscored that quality documentation and data must often be preserved. For clients like Airbus, that means building entirely separate quality processes, backed by full traceability through CO-AM software.
As sensitive manufacturing data shifts to digital platforms, cybersecurity and intellectual property protection concerns are mounting across the aerospace industry. Materialise protects against these threats with its Digital Rights Management (DRM) system. This ensures that a customer’s files can’t be tampered with, misused, or overproduced.
“If Airbus says, ‘we want you to print 100 parts,’ then we can print 100 parts, but not more,” Van Espen explained. The system locks down all print parameters, making piracy, file corruption, or even inadvertent changes virtually impossible. Materialise’s software security credentials are backed by ISO 27000 certification. According to De Zeeuw, this confirms that the company’s software developers “work in a cyber-secure way, and that their products are quite secure.”
For aerospace clients conducting distributed manufacturing with the CO-AM platform, Materialise turns to its Identify3D brand. Acquired in September 2022, Identify3D provides encryption, access control, and traceability for digital part files, helping prevent tampering and counterfeiting. The software allows designers to lock files to specific users, machines, or materials, ensuring production aligns with the original specifications.
The future of 3D printing for aerospace
As aerospace 3D printing matures at Materialise, the next 18 months will prioritize scaling production, especially for metal parts. “We’ve just established our EN 9100 certification,” explained De Zeeuw. “So now it’s time to land those first metal applications.”
For Materialise, success goes beyond technical capability; it means certified parts flying aboard real aircraft. The company is also expanding its polymer production capacity, aiming to unlock new aerospace applications for established materials such as ULTEM and PA. At the same time, it is exploring next-generation, high-performance alternatives. Looking ahead, De Zeeuw pointed to promising DLP resins that blend photo- and thermally curable properties. These dual-curable materials offer enhanced resistance to UV, heat, and potentially even fire, broadening the scope for aerospace applications.
Van Espen expects a pivotal shift in the coming months, as more 3D printer OEMs open their systems to external software platforms such as Materialise’s CO-AM. “There’s recognition now that they need to integrate better with scalable software,” he noted. This push for 3D printer interoperability will be essential as additive manufacturing scales from prototyping to industrial-scale, repeatable production.
Over the past 35 years, Materialise has carved out a critical role in the aerospace supply chain. As both a manufacturer and software developer, the company occupies a rare position in an industry where traceability, consistency, and long-term reliability carry more weight than hype. Its “unsung heroes” play a vital role. They cut costs, speed up lead times, and streamline aircraft maintenance, helping additive manufacturing gain much-needed altitude in the aerospace sector.
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Featured image shows Materialise Leuven HQ. Photo by Michael Petch.
