DDM Systems Launches the Digital Foundry to Address America's Investment Casting Crisis

Atlanta-based manufacturer deploys ceramic 3D printing technology to cut casting lead times by 10x as the U.S. foundry base contracts to historic lows

Atlanta, Georgia–(Newsfile Corp. – June 2, 2026) – DDM Systems, Inc., an advanced manufacturing company specializing in ceramic 3D printing for investment casting, today announced the commercial launch of its Digital Foundry platform, a vertically integrated manufacturing approach that eliminates tooling from the investment casting process and delivers precision metal castings in days rather than months.

DDM Systems

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The American Casting Crisis

The United States faces an unprecedented contraction in its casting and forging industrial base. The country has lost 67% of its foundries since 2000, according to the American Foundry Society, and aerospace investment casting lead times now stretch to 18 months or longer. Senior aerospace executives have publicly described castings and forgings as their single greatest supply chain challenge for two consecutive years, and the Bureau of Industry and Security has completed a national security assessment of the investment casting sector.

The crisis is structural, not cyclical. The domestic foundry workforce has aged past replacement rates, and no new large-scale investment casting facilities have been built in the United States in over a decade. Meanwhile, demand from defense programs, gas turbine manufacturers, and aerospace OEMs continues to accelerate. America Makes’ IMPACT 3.0 project call, released in September 2025 with $4.5 million in funding, named its first topic area “AM in the Digital Foundry,” signaling federal recognition that additive manufacturing must augment the casting industrial base.

How the Digital Foundry Works

DDM’s Digital Foundry addresses this crisis by combining three proprietary technologies. LAMP (Large Area Maskless Photopolymerization) uses patterned UV light to 3D print ceramic investment casting shells directly from CAD files, eliminating 7 of the 12 process steps required in traditional lost-wax casting. DirectPour delivers ready-to-pour ceramic shells with integrated cores to foundry partners. SLE (Scanning Laser Epitaxy) enables direct additive manufacturing of single-crystal, directionally solidified, and equiaxed superalloy structures for turbine blade repair and production.

The result is a 10x reduction in lead time, with first castings delivered in as few as 10 days compared to 52 to 80 weeks through conventional methods. The process also eliminates 100% of up-front tooling costs and reduces scrap rates by approximately 90%.

“The American casting industry has been hollowed out over decades, and the consequences are now showing up in every major defense and energy program in the country. Our Digital Foundry is not a prototype or a concept. It is a production-ready platform that is already delivering castings for the U.S. Air Force, gas turbine manufacturers, and aerospace OEMs.” said Dr. Suman Das, Founder, President, and CEO of DDM Systems, and Morris M. Bryan Jr. Chair Professor in Mechanical Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing Systems at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Federal Validation and Production Track Record

DDM Systems holds 26+ patents across six countries, is ITAR-registered, and maintains memberships in America Makes (Silver tier), the Defense Industrial Base Consortium, and the Cornerstone OTA. The company is an active America Makes IMPACT 2.0 awardee, currently demonstrating rapid investment casting with 3D-printed ceramic shell molds for the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group (CMXG) at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.

The Digital Foundry platform is compatible with hundreds of standard air-melt and vacuum-melt alloys, including stainless steels (304, 316, 17-4 PH), aluminum alloys (A356, A357), nickel superalloys (IN 625, IN 718, IN 713LC), directionally solidified alloys (Rene 141, Rene 80), and single-crystal superalloys (CMSX-4, Rene N5). All castings meet ASTM standards and Investment Casting Institute acceptability criteria.

“We built this technology over 15 years with DARPA and ARPA-E support specifically to solve the problem of a shrinking domestic casting base. The Digital Foundry does not replace foundries. It removes the tooling bottleneck that prevents foundries from responding to demand at the speed the defense and energy sectors require.” Dr. Das continued.

About DDM Systems’ Technology Platform

DDM Systems’ Digital Foundry integrates three proprietary technologies into a single tooling-free manufacturing workflow. LAMP (Large Area Maskless Photopolymerization) uses 4.1 million individually addressable UV beams to 3D print ceramic investment casting shells at 15-micron resolution across a 24-inch by 24-inch by 24-inch build volume, producing 36,000 cubic centimeters of fired ceramic molds per day. DirectPour is an end-to-end casting service where customers submit a CAD file and receive finished castings in their specified alloy, with DDM handling shell design, 3D printing, thermal processing, and coordination with foundry partners. SLE (Scanning Laser Epitaxy) uses high-power laser processing to produce single-crystal, directionally solidified, and equiaxed superalloy structures directly from powder, including non-weldable alloys like MAR-M247, Rene 80, and IN100 that crack under conventional methods.

DDM serves the aerospace, defense, industrial gas turbine, power generation, energy, automotive, medical device, and fluid systems sectors. Key technology partners and customers include GE Vernova, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Northrop Grumman, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Eaton Aerospace, Signicast (Form Technologies), the U.S. Air Force, and America Makes. The company holds 26+ patents across six countries, is ITAR-registered, and maintains memberships in America Makes (Silver tier), the Defense Industrial Base Consortium, and the Cornerstone OTA.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Digital Foundry?

The Digital Foundry is DDM Systems’ integrated production model that combines ceramic 3D printing (LAMP), end-to-end casting services (DirectPour), and direct metal additive manufacturing (SLE) in a single tooling-free workflow. It produces precision metal castings from CAD files without wax patterns, core tooling, or slurry-and-stucco shell building.

How does DDM’s approach differ from traditional investment casting?

Traditional investment casting requires 12 major process steps and 6 to 12 months of dedicated tooling before the first casting can be poured. DDM’s LAMP technology eliminates 7 of those 12 steps by 3D printing ceramic shells with integrated cores directly from digital designs, delivering first castings in as few as 10 days at 50% lower cost.

What alloys can DDM Systems cast?

DDM produces parts in hundreds of standard alloys compatible with both air-melt and vacuum-melt foundry processes, including stainless steels (304, 316, 17-4 PH, 15-5 PH), aluminum alloys (A356, A357), nickel superalloys (IN 625, IN 718, IN 713LC, MAR-M247, IN100), directionally solidified alloys (Rene 141, Rene 80, Rene 142), single-crystal superalloys (CMSX-4, Rene N5), and cobalt chrome medical grades (ASTM F75).

What defense and aerospace certifications does DDM hold?

DDM is ITAR-registered, an America Makes Silver member, a member of the Defense Industrial Base Consortium, and a Cornerstone OTA member. The company has received $8M+ in federal contract revenue from DARPA, ARPA-E, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense.

About DDM Systems

DDM Systems is an Atlanta-based advanced manufacturing company that has pioneered ceramic 3D printing for investment casting. Founded in 2012 by Dr. Suman Das and Dr. John Halloran, the company’s patented LAMP technology eliminates 7 of 12 traditional casting steps, delivering precision metal castings 10x faster at 50% lower cost with zero tooling investment. DDM’s Digital Foundry has been validated through $8M+ in federal contracts from DARPA, ARPA-E, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense. The company’s ARPA-E program with GE Vernova demonstrated improvement of investment casting yield from 40% to 90% and energy reduction of up to 90%. Learn more at www.RapidPrecisionCastings.com.

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