Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has progressed from prototyping toward industrial deployment, yet adoption remains uneven because many initiatives are still driven by isolated process demonstrations rather than system-level manufacturing strategy. This framework review proposes a gated decision workflow for integrating metal AM into industrial systems by coupling process-family selection and route definition, Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) and sustainability considerations. The paper consolidates a comparative matrix of six metal AM process families for early down-selection, introduces a minimal evidence checklist linking each decision gate to required artifacts, and contextualizes the workflow through representative part archetypes. The framework is further supported by practical guidance on process-specific DfAM constraints, including support strategy, residual stress, and surface integrity in powder bed fusion; shrinkage-driven design in sinter-based routes; and machining allowances in repair and hybrid manufacturing. Rather than positioning metal AM as a universal substitute for conventional manufacturing, this work defines it as a complementary, strategy-dependent enabler whose sustainability benefits depend on system-level integration and application context.
Jose Manuel Costa (Fri,) studied this question.