3D Systems (Rock Hill, South Carolina / USA; www.3dsystems.com) has opened a new additive manufacturing centre in Pinerolo / Italy. The company said it undertook a multimillion-dollar expansion over the past 15 months, which will more than double the manufacturing capacity and help meet increasing customer demand in the region.

The US company's On Demand business specialises in prototyping, low-volume parts production and appearance models. It serves customers from industries such as automotive, consumer products and aerospace. 3D Systems purchased a building adjacent to its current production site to create its new additive manufacturing centre. The Pinerolo facility now houses additive and subtractive manufacturing technologies including over 30 plastic 3D printers in technologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA) and digital light printing (DLP), represented by the US company’s patented "Figure 4" technology.

The facility adds to the company’s existing On Demand network within Europe that includes locations in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Marco Maio, general manager at 3D Systems On Demand in Italy, said the expansion makes "a significant, positive impact on the local economy."

For fiscal 2018, the company reported 6% revenue growth to USD 687.7m (around EUR 617m), compared to USD 646.1m in 2017. The increase was driven by 25% printer revenue growth on a 76% increase in printer unit sales, 20% growth in healthcare solutions, 5% growth in software, 2% growth in on demand manufacturing and 1% growth in materials.

"With multiple 2018 product launches now behind us, we are shifting our investment focus to materials innovations and software growth opportunities," said John McMullen, executive VP and CFO. He added that the company is "very focused" on reducing its cost structure and driving cash generation in 2019. The US company has partnered with Nokia (Espoo / Finland; www.nokia.com) on the telecommunications group's newest "factory in a box" concept of an Industry 4.0 production workflow – it integrates 3D System's Figure 4 "Standalone" plastic 3D printer, augmented/virtual reality and robotics.

Among other materials, 3D Systems offers several polymers for 3D printing, such as a portfolio of the engineering plastics PA 11 and PA 12. In a white paper it recently published on thermoplastic manufacturing, the company notes that polymers have become a leading material in manufacturing, replacing steel in many applications. It sees additive manufacturing as further extending the use of thermoplastics.