Effects of the General Data Protection Regulation on Additive Manufacturing

The Project

On 25 May 2018, the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) entered into force, regulating the rights and obligations in the handling of personal data. Enterprises, including SMEs, must take appropriate measures to meet all requirements and avoid high fines.

In additive manufacturing, the collection and use of personal data is part of different processes and in different ways than in other manufacturing industries or for service providers as the sector is based on data processing at many different levels: in design and development, during every phase of process control, from the exchange of data with clients to the handling of customer orders. Therefore, this study focuses on the concrete effects and requirements of the GDPR on SMEs in the field of additive manufacturing.

Goals

The study aims at two things: on the one hand, it emphasizes the need for compliance with the GDPR by the companies and draws attention to the analysis of business processes in order to determine the need for action regarding the protection of personal data. At the same time, it considers the requirements of data protection through the eyes of an industry that is especially affected as a manufacturing industry with highly individualized production.

The specific goals are:

• Collecting relevant background information on the GDPR for SMEs in general
• Analysis of the effects of the GDPR on SMEs from the field of additive manufacturing
• Development of recommendations for action for SMEs
• Development of policy recommendations for political actors
• Communicate the results through appropriate media

aconium responsibilities

• Literature research
• Conduction of interviews with SMEs
• Editing of the study including recommendations for action, graphics and checklists
• Creation and layout of an information flyer for SMEs
• Writing of an article for a journal