TROY, MI—Members of Project DIAMOnD, a Michigan-based 3D printing network of 300 small- and medium-sized manufacturers, is providing tourniquet clips to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry to aid the country's wounded soldiers in their war against Russia.

Launched by Automation Alley, DIAMOnD is a World Economic Forum Advanced Manufacturing Hub initially established as a PPE production network at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Since then, it has grown into the USA’s largest distributed 3D printing network.

Other key contributors include Makershelp, a 3D printing organization in Denmark, where the tourniquets undergo final assembly, and Ultimation Industries. Ultimation is a leading direct-to-consumer conveyor manufacturer and designs, builds, and installs material handling equipment.

“The specific part that the Ukrainian government needs [is] a tourniquet clip that cannot be easily produced using conventional means quickly because of turnaround times in mold making. The 3D printers and the Onyx material we have available through Project DIAMOnD was a perfect fit for this application,” says Pavan Muzumdar, COO at Automation Alley. “We are grateful to be able to help the people of Ukraine in some way.”

“Project DIAMOnD has allowed us to aid in humanitarian efforts when called upon while experimenting with 3D printing and innovating for our own business,” says Richard Canny, president of Ultimation Industries. DIAMOnD stands for Distributed, Independent, Agile Manufacturing on Demand.
“The DIAMOnD network has many printers that can be available at short notice,” says Canny. "This means manufacturers can produce a high number of parts in a very short time, with no wasted time for tooling.”