Safran AM Campus Celebrates Fifth Anniversary, 18,000 Parts Per Year

Safran, the world's second largest aircraft equipment manufacturer, is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its Safran Additive Manufacturing Campus (SAMC) in Mérignac, France. The 12,500 square meter facility now manufactures roughly 18,000 aircraft and helicopter parts per year using a variety of additive manufacturing solutions.

Since becoming operational five years ago, the team has grown from 60 people to over 150. Three cohorts of employees have earned SAMC's professional metallurgical qualification certificate in cooperation with the Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie (UIMM). The campus has also served as a training ground for designers across Safran to learn about AM and how to integrate it into their processes.

Last year, SAMC delivered approximately 15,000 3D printed components, including helicopter and aircraft engine parts. In 2026, this number is expected to rise to 18,000. The campus has gone from producing just 5-6 parts in serial production when it started to more than 25 part numbers now in serial production.

Stéphane Bensilum, engineering director at SAMC, noted that less than 1 percent of parts are currently produced using additive manufacturing, but expects this to grow to nearly 20 percent within aircraft engines in the future.

From a hardware perspective, the site relies on metal LPBF systems, with a particular focus on multi-laser machines. Its largest systems are two 12-laser SLM Solutions NXG XII 600 units, alongside Additive Industries MetalFab1 and Renishaw RenAM 500Q systems.

Looking ahead, SAMC will increasingly focus on the development and production of large-scale parts for aircraft engines, with new production capabilities expected to be developed across the Group between 2030 and 2040.