Fatigue life is an essential property for many metal products, determining their safety and life cycle. During welding or Additive Manufacturing (AM), the solidification of the melt pool determines essential aspects of the fatigue life, particularly by the surface topology. The project aims at the development of a smart manufacturing system based on Machine Learning, and with combined optical sensors and model-based algorithms, that enables to identify and optimize critical complex aspects during manufacturing, particularly stress raisers. A generalizing approach shall enable to adapt the method for the different applications of welding and AM, demonstrated for products that experience fatigue loads, like cranes and vehicles. The industrial partners will exchange their complementary expertise with respect to manufacturing techniques, manufacturing systems and product development. A Swedish university and the Belgium Welding Institute will contribute with academic competences in process monitoring, fatigue modelling and material behaviour during welding and AM. A concept for an adaptable commercial manufacturing systems will result, integrating sensors and artificial intelligence for welding and additive manufacturing, using electric arcs or laser beams. The applicability will be demonstrated for product parts like beams and links with high fatigue load requirements.