Major HP Expansion: 3D Printing Business and Multi Jet Fusion Technology Expanding Across Asia-Pacific Region

From its introduction of blended reality Sprout platform to its innovative Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology, HP Inc. has been making major headway in 3D technologies. Ahead of last month’s RAPID + TCT event, HP shared some of its plans with us, explaining that it would be scaling its 3D printing business with a global reseller program and an expansion of its open materials ecosystem, among other initiatives. HP is making good on this goal, building on its current momentum, and just announced that its 3D printing business will be expanding across the world’s largest manufacturing market: the Asia-Pacific region.

Stephen Nigro, President of 3D Printing, HP Inc., said, “Ubiquitous connectivity and technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, sensors, and 3D printing are sparking the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And perhaps no industry, and no region, has more opportunity in front of it than the nearly $6 trillion Asia-Pacific manufacturing sector. We are excited to bring the industry’s leading 3D printing technology, most robust partner community, and most innovative materials ecosystem to help this world-class manufacturing community accelerate their reinvention. Anchored by some of the most advanced companies in the world, the region’s diverse and dynamic collection of global brands, large contract manufacturers, and materials leaders is primed to play a significant role in this global industry transformation.”

First things first: HP announced the commercial availability of its award-winning Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology in the region, along with an extension of its HP Partner First 3D Printing Specialization reseller program to over a dozen new partners, beginning in Australia, Greater China, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea. 3D printing services provider Hangzhou Shining 3D ePrint Tech Co. Ltd., which has over 10,000 customers worldwide, will work with HP to deploy its customized 3D printing solutions in over 50 facilities across China, including in Shanghai, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Beijing. It will also support HP’s new 3D Printing Reference and Experience Centers in China, and help further develop 3D printing applications that are suited for the Chinese market.

“As the leading 3D printing provider in China we are honored to partner with a technology innovator like HP to bring production ready 3D printing to the largest manufacturing market in the world. The speed, quality, and economics of HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing solutions make them an ideal foundation for the next-generation of 3D services and parts we deliver to our wide array of customers across the globe,” said Mr. Zhao Dong Lai, Shining 3D ePrint’s President.

HP Jet Fusion 3D Printing Solution makes its debut in Asia-Pacific at Die and Mould China in Shanghai

Infinite 3D Printing, one of the largest 3D printing solutions providers in China, has been a major catalyst for the growth of the Chinese 3D printing market, in fields like training, education, and government and academic alliances; the company also developed the China 3D Printing Innovation Center in the Qingdao High-Tech Zone. The company plans to install HP’s 3D printing solutions in multiple technology centers, including in the cities of Qingdao and Suzhou.

Mr. Luo Jun, CEO, Infinite 3D Printing and founder of the World 3D Association, said, “We are proud to deploy HP’s breakthrough 3D printing solutions as part of our customer offerings and as a key platform for the future of manufacturing in the Qingdao China 3D Printing Innovation Center. HP brings decades of experience transforming markets, the world’s most innovative 3D printing solutions, and an open materials platform reinventing the traditional materials ecosystem together to unlock the power of additive manufacturing for the global market.”

Both Shining 3D ePrint and Infinite 3D Printing will join HP’s Partner First reseller program. There are currently over 40 members in the program, including these new partners in the Asia-Pacific region:

• AM Korea
• Aurora
• ECSS
• evok3D
• Eye2Eye
• FormX
• Huxen
• Hyunwoo Data
• Trustworthy
• Wenpoo
• 3D Pro

As HP works to broaden its business across the region, more partners and countries will be added to the program. Customers deploying HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology solutions will benefit from the knowledge and expertise of the company’s certified 3D printing resellers and go-to-market partners; these partners will also enable new applications and offer service quality and fast response time.

Ramon Pastor, Vice President and General Manager, HP Multi Jet Fusion, cuts the ribbon to kick off HP’s 3D Printing presence in Asia-Pacific at Die and Mould China

HP will also expand its open 3D printing materials ecosystem, which already includes Lehmann & Voss, Henkel, Evonik, BASF, and Arkema, as Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Company joins.

Mr. Jiao Ying, Vice President of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Company, said, “The combined global footprint and shared vision of Sinopec Yanshan Petrochemical Company and HP will help transform the 3D printing materials marketplace, and the entire global manufacturing industry. HP’s open platform will help us and our global customers to collaborate and achieve a win-win.”

HP has a unique open 3D printing platform model, which helps create new possibilities for part properties that address specific industry needs. The platform also expands the availability of new materials and lower materials and development costs, drives improvements in both speed and performance, and addresses multiple applications. Sinopec and HP will work together to develop polyolefin-based powders for HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D printers.

Together with its partners, HP will also be opening several new 3D Printing Reference and Experience Centers in Tokyo, Taipei, Suzhou, Singapore, Shanghai, Qingdao, Melbourne, Hangzhou, and Beijing. The controlled environments of these centers allow for testing and qualification of new 3D printing use-cases, so customers will have an easier path from prototyping to 3D production. HP has already introduced over a dozen of these centers across the US and Europe, and will continue adding more as its 3D printing business expands.

John Dulchinos, Vice President of Digital Manufacturing at contract manufacturer and HP partner Jabil, said, “As an early adopter of HP’s breakthrough Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology, we are thrilled to see their expansion into Asia, home of some of the highest volume manufacturing. As we expand 3D printing within our own digital manufacturing strategy, not only in Asia but worldwide, we look forward to HP continuing to drive the market in performance, cost, and reliability appropriate for industrial applications.”

You can see examples of HP’s 3D printing leadership at multiple events across the Asia-Pacific region, including Die & Mould China 2017 this week in Shanghai and the Design Engineering & Manufacturing Solutions Expo in Tokyo later this month. For more information about HP’s activities in this large new market, Qun Zhang, head of HP’s Asia-Pacific 3D Printing sales, provided insights in an HP Q&A.

“We want to bring our disruptive Multi Jet Fusion 3D printing technology and Open Platform approach to the most cutting-edge market in the world,” Zhang explains.

Discuss in the HP forum at 3DPB.com.