Metal additive manufacturing (AM) companies are often resistant to incorporating lean principles into their production operations. Lean manufacturing enables industrial companies to be more productive, helping companies achieve scalability and operational efficiency.
Historically, lean has stemmed from the need to improve the efficiency of operations in a batch manufacturing environment. These achievements have been difficult to replicate with metal additive manufacturing because of the variability of batches and operations. However, it is not impossible to integrate lean manufacturing principles into metal additive.
In fact, Maciej Tusz, CEO and Founder of Magnitude Innovations, has created his whole business around supporting industrial AM companies to improve their process and get better results. The lean manufacturing methods his company has developed help companies cut costs, reduce lead times, and optimize operations.
Applying Lean Manufacturing Principles to Metal AM
When Tusz initially entered the world of additive manufacturing a little over a decade ago, he saw companies experiencing a lot of challenges with using this technology. Production was often delayed and employees had to work overtime to meet delivery times.
“We saw this disconnect between the process taking five days, but lead times were typically 2-3 months, it just didn’t seem right. Of course, some companies, like suppliers to F1, would deliver parts in 5 days, but that meant their other customer segments suffered even more,” explains Tusz. This resulted in typical on-time delivery being 50-70% for production.
“For the longest time I thought that was just the reality of AM,” he continues, “but I started seeing other production environments doing more complex manufacturing than additive that were consistently meeting production goals. Their processes were good, they weren’t delayed. So, we challenged this belief by setting the goal of delivering product in less than three weeks, 99.8% of the time.”
When Tusz did more research into these successful operations, he found that there is a basis for lean methodology within AM, it just requires some adjustment from the methods used for traditional manufacturing processes. One of the first adjustments Tusz made was figuring out how to apply OEE, overall equipment effectiveness, metrics to metal AM.
“OEE works with continuous production lines manufacturing the same product. And in AM the product is manufactured discretely and isn’t always the same; but the process is,” Tusz explains. “So, we created an equivalent OEE concept for AM, called the Additive Manufacturing Index (AMI), to ensure manufacturers are using efficient metal and/or plastic additive processes.”
Tusz also recommends that AM companies properly define product families. This helps manufacturers match production and planning to demand, similar to the Heijunka method in traditional manufacturing, but more complex and requires abstraction.
“In AM, the complexity of product families can be infinite, but there’s really no benefit above 100 families, even that would be excessive,” says Tusz. “So, juggling that complexity makes the job of operations and planning so much harder. Our software, Uptimo, helps customers manage this by utilizing production resources efficiently and nailing the production deadlines.”
Value stream mapping (VSM) is another lean principle Tusz has taken from traditional manufacturing and adjusted for AM. VSM is one of the first actions they implement with manufacturers, creating a 12-month road map for development that the company will follow to improve production.
“Our approach with VSM is that we ‘abstractify’ all the different products that go through the production to get a grasp on the process times, uptimes, product type, cycle times, etc. With that, we can then see where the true bottleneck is in production and focus on improving flow in a way that immediately and continuously delivers results,” explains Tusz.
Another lean manufacturing principle Tusz advises for AM environments is the single-minute exchange of dies (SMED) methodology for AM systems. A universal principle of lean manufacturing, regardless of process, is the ability to react dynamically.
Tusz expands on this: “When you look at AM and manufacturers who take 1-2 hours to prepare the machine, that is unacceptable and extremely wasteful. Not only is the machine not being utilized to manufacture product, but in case something goes wrong, which it always does in manufacturing, there is very little time to correct it.”
By implementing SMED methodology. Tusz and his team enable manufacturers to reduce their machine setup time to 30 minutes or less, most times down to 10, depending on the system type.
“There are a few other lean manufacturing principles we’ve redefined, such as work-in-progress and first-in, first-out,” Tusz adds. “We’ve found lean methodology can work phenomenally in metal AM, but there are considerations that make it slightly different from using lean methods in a traditional manufacturing environment.”
Measuring Success of Lean AM Methods
Typical lead times for metal additive manufacturing facilities are eight to twelve weeks. By properly utilizing lean manufacturing principles, Tusz helps these manufacturers cut that in half, shortening lead times below six weeks, or even less than three weeks in most cases.
“Many manufacturers will say they already have good lead times, but the truth is it usually varies. To streamline lead times and make sure they are consistent, we work with manufacturers to bring their lead times down to their process times. This is achievable for any AM environment and necessary if you want to turn a profit,” Tusz says.
To this end, Tusz will calculate the throughput not based on when products are manufactured, but by when they are shipped and paid for by customers. “When you measure throughput this way, the work of the whole production team becomes optimized. This metric connects everyone together, instead of having workers focus on just one production step.”
When workers only optimize their own workflow, instead of optimizing throughput, it creates delays, production falls behind, and lead times increase. Focusing on throughput, i.e. the amount of product in a given timeframe from print to ship, ensures that the whole team works towards a common goal rather than their own task and increases the success of the company.
“We’ve created these concepts to maximize throughput,” Tusz says. “We’ve implemented this lean methodology for additive in a way that optimizes the entire production facility. Each step of production is smoothly executed, and this improves flow and increases throughput, while eliminating overtime and enabling many manufacturers to achieve profitability for the first time.”
Driving Lean Methodology Adoption
One of the main challenges to implementing lean manufacturing principles is an initial lack of trust and buy-in. It can take some time to see the benefits after adopting lean methodology into operations. Improvements can’t be made without management buy-in of the methodology and worker trust in the new processes.
Tusz works with manufacturers to build credibility, not only in him and his company’s expertise, but also with the methodology. He’ll teach lean manufacturing principles through workshops and brainstorm with production workers on how it can be applied to their workflows.
“It’s a big mind shift change, people are resistant at first,” Tusz says. “But then throughput starts increasing, operation costs decrease, and production time is freed up. That’s when people start to believe in the methodology and trust is built.”
Once the initial benefits are realized and the trust is there, Tusz and his team work with companies to continue to implement more lean methods and identify areas for improvement. The process doesn’t stop with just some initial enhancements, implementing lead methodology can be akin to an overhaul of operations.
To ensure lean methodology continues to work and manufacturers aren’t just seeing one-time benefits, Tusz works to implement these processes throughout the organization. Every level of production must believe in the methodology and continue to strive for improvement, from R&D to shipping.
“We use lean to figure out how we can save metal AM companies time and then reinvest that time into further improving operations,” explains Tusz. “And part of the methodology is redundancy, so any disruption that happens, whether a worker is sick, there’s a labor shortage, a machine is down, none of it matters. At every level of this method there are redundancies in place to account for changes.”
Additionally, Tusz emphasizes training workers across departments, so they can shift jobs if necessary to cover future growth. He says that skills are typically overlooked as a waste that is only highlighted when a key stakeholder leaves the organization, adding that with proper cross-training, the concept of onboarding becomes non-existent.
“This redundancy is where manufacturers start understanding the robustness of this methodology,” Tusz says. “If there is a product quality issue, not a problem, we have buffers for that. If someone is out sick, not a problem, we have buffers for that. If the machine is down, not a problem, we have buffers for that. It doesn't matter what happens, the production is a self-healing organism.”
Embracing Lean Methodology in Metal AM Processes
There’s significant room for innovation in metal additive manufacturing technology according to Tusz. But despite any technological advancements, the lean manufacturing principles adjusted for AM will still be relevant and continue to drive operational improvements.
“Regardless of how AM production changes in the future, lean manufacturing methods will not change,” Tusz says. “The systems will naturally become more complex, and in that case, lean methodology will be even more integral to control production and plan for disruptions.”
As the founder of Magnitude Innovations, Tusz has helped many additive manufacturers embrace lean methodology, assisting them in reaching targets that were initially thought impossible to achieve. If your company is struggling to improve its AM processes, consider reaching out to Magnitude Innovations for support.
To learn even more about additive manufacturing, check out the RAPID + TCT North American tour. As North America’s largest additive manufacturing and industrial 3D printing event, RAPID + TCT helps attendees advance their AM knowledge and discover solutions to their manufacturing challenges. The next stop is Boston, April 14-16, 2026.
Biography
Matt Tusz
CEO & Founder
Magnitude Innovations
Matt Tusz graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign with an M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering. As a pioneer in the additive manufacturing industry, he founded Magnitude Innovations eight years ago, establishing it as the only company in the AM sector that develops proprietary OpEx tools and software solutions specifically designed for industrial 3D printing operations. Magnitude has revolutionized AM production efficiency through the development of Uptimo, a groundbreaking software platform that eliminates tribal knowledge and doubles the output of AM systems in production environments. This innovative solution has enabled manufacturers to achieve unprecedented results: production lead times of less than three weeks, margin increases of 50%, and an exceptional 99.9% on-time delivery rate. In the last decade, Matt has developed one-of-a-kind lean manufacturing methods specifically tailored for additive manufacturing, transforming how OEMs and their suppliers approach production, qualification, and R&D efforts. His unique expertise spans across Aerospace, Energy, Motorsport, and Industrial applications, where Magnitude's tools have proven instrumental in helping customers achieve their growth and profitability targets in an increasingly competitive market.