What is class 28.97, manufacture of additive manufacturing machinery?

Class 28.97 covers manufacture of machines for additive manufacturing. It was created as a new class in NACE Rev. 2.1, as paragraph 148 states. Its explanatory note states the inclusion in one sentence, by the materials the machines work with. The class is statistical only, and it does not determine a code for a specific reader. This guide is the detailed note guide for the class; the creation of the class is also recorded in the manufacturing cluster, from the section 4 account.

What does the note include?

The note includes manufacture of machines for additive manufacturing by metal, plastics, rubber, plaster, cement, ceramic deposits, and similar materials. The list of materials is taken from the note as the manual prints it, and the words and similar materials at the end of the list mean the list illustrates the materials rather than closing it. The defining feature of the class is the additive manufacturing process, not the material alone. A machine that builds an object by depositing material, layer by layer or deposit by deposit, in the sense the note uses, falls inside the description in general terms, whatever the material deposited. A machine that shapes material by removing it, or by moulding it in a single operation, does not fall inside the description on the strength of the material alone.

The class sits in group 28.9, manufacture of other special purpose machinery, in division 28, manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified, in Section C. The group contains the special purpose machinery classes, including machinery for food, beverage and tobacco processing, for textile, apparel and leather production, for paper and paperboard production, and for plastics and rubber, together with the residual class 28.99. The new class sits among those specific classes, as a specific class for a specific kind of machine, not as a residual class. The note states no exclusions in the passage printed for the class, but the boundary is stated from the other side, as the next section shows.

How do the neighbouring notes point to class 28.97?

The notes for the neighbouring machinery classes exclude manufacture of machines for additive manufacturing to class 28.97, in each case. The note for class 28.96, manufacture of plastics and rubber machinery, excludes manufacture of machines for additive manufacturing to class 28.97. The note for class 28.99, manufacture of other special purpose machinery not elsewhere classified, excludes manufacture of machines for additive manufacturing to class 28.97. The notes for the general machinery classes, including the notes that cross refer to interchangeable tools and to machinery for metal mills, foundries, mining and quarrying, likewise exclude additive manufacturing machines to class 28.97. The repeated exclusion, from several directions, is the manual’s way of stating the boundary: wherever a machine for additive manufacturing might otherwise be placed, the note points to the new class.

The repeated exclusion also shows why the creation of the class matters for reading the old structure. Under NACE Rev. 2, additive manufacturing machines were held in the broader machinery classes, and the notes for those classes did not point to a dedicated class. Under NACE Rev. 2.1, the broader classes point to class 28.97, and the statistics for the broader classes are therefore narrower than before, by the amount of additive manufacturing machinery work that has moved. The correspondence table records the relationship between the old classes and the new class, and it must be read before old and new figures for the neighbouring classes are compared. The movement is a movement of scope, not a statement about any specific machine or manufacturer.

How is the class placed in the hierarchy?

| Level | Identifier | Title |

|---|---|---|

| Section | C | Manufacturing |

| Division | 28 | Manufacture of machinery and equipment not elsewhere classified |

| Group | 28.9 | Manufacture of other special purpose machinery |

| Class | 28.97 | Manufacture of additive manufacturing machinery |

The table follows the detailed structure. The class number 28.97 sits between class 28.96, plastics and rubber machinery, and class 28.99, other special purpose machinery not elsewhere classified, in the order the manual lists the group. The number order is the order of listing, not a ranking of the machines. The table states the place of the class. The note states its content, and the correspondence table states how its content relates to the old classes.

What does a new class not decide?

The creation of a class does not, by itself, move a unit from one class to another. Principal activity classifies units, under the introductory guidelines rules, and the institute or register holds the entry for a unit. A new class gives statistics a finer heading under which to count the activity, where the data allow it. No unit is reclassified automatically, and no statement is made that every unit whose work resembles the new title belongs in the new class. Before quoting the new class for any purpose, consult the note for the class, the correspondence table, and the holder of the record, in that order.

Where is a new class confirmed?

To confirm, read the note, read the table, and ask the holder of the record. The note states what the new class contains. The table states where its content came from in the old structure. The entry held for a specific unit is stated by the institute or register. No step replaces another.

Read the note by process and material together, follow the exclusions in the neighbouring machinery notes, and confirm the entry with the institute or register that holds it.