3D Systems Signs Lease on 200,000 Sq. Foot Manufacturing Facility in Rock Hill, S.C.

There is no doubt that explosive growth is occurring within the 3D printing market for large scale machines meant for manufacturing.  Although many of the stories we hear about from the media are related to the consumer side of things, as you likely know, the manufacturing sub-market for 3D printers is where the money currently is at. Stratasys recently reported blowout earnings last quarter, likely the effects of an increase in demand from large and small-scale manufacturers for their machines. 3D Systems, on the other hand, released their financial results a week prior, and disappointed the market, despite showing significant growth year over year.

3D Systems is still growing at a rapid rate, and certainly understands the continued growth prospects available to them. So much so, that today they’ve announced the signing of a lease for a massive new 200,000 square foot facility in Rock Hill, South Carolina, in order to meet demand for its printers and printing materials.

The New Facility

The facility will be used to consolidate, as well as strengthen the company’s ability to manufacture and distribute their ever expanding range of machines, and materials which are used within those machines. 3D Systems will be moving certain manufacturing operations into this new facility, while allowing the headquarters building in Rock Hill to act as a sort of R&D and engineering hub in the area.

“Our continued Rock Hill expansion underscores our commitment to localized manufacturing, demonstrating through our actions that what is designed locally can be built locally,” said Avi Reichental, President and CEO, 3DS. “This investment is in direct response to the growing demand for our professional printers.”

The building, which is located at 700 Marine Dr. in Rock Hill, SC, is a single-tenant industrial building, constructed in 1986. It features 20-foot clear heights, 6-inch reinforced concrete floors, and a dozen loading docks. The term of this lease is for 10 years.

The facility is expected to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2015, and will allow for the company to hire additional employees, possibly as many as a couple hundred, creating a decent number of new jobs in the area. In fact, 3D Systems has an extensive list of job openings for those in the Rock Hill area, including administrative, engineering, marketing, customer service, quality control, and sales positions. A full list can be found here.

Discuss 3D Systems’ continued expansion in the 3D systems Rock Hill forum thread on 3DPB.com.