3D Systems to Expand South Carolina 3D Printing Facility

It’s been a rather tumultuous time for 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD), with two new CEOs and two major reorganizations in just four years. Late last summer, the company, with Dr. Jeff Graves newly installed at the helm as CEO, also announced a 20 percent reduction in workforce, and even though the industry stalwart beat expectations for its third-quarter earnings, it also saw a year-over-year revenue decline as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on the world in 2020. But there’s been good news as well, with 3D Systems partnering with the VHA to improve patient care for U.S. veterans and seeing its stock double with the sale of its non-core software businesses. Now here’s more good news: the company has announced expansion plans for its Rock Hill, South Carolina headquarters.

This expansion is part of the restructuring and reorganization plan the company announced last year to help speed up the adoption of AM solutions for applications with high reliability products. With the addition of 100,000 square feet to its current campus, 3D Systems will be able to consolidate its quality, materials manufacturing, and logistics operations.

3D Systems facility

By expanding its existing facility, the company will be able to build new development laboratories for its metal and polymer materials, which should help increase the development of solutions, decrease time to market, and make operational efficiencies better. The expansion will also allow 3D Systems to make a better customer collaboration and training center, as well as pave the way for application development, finance, information technology, executive leadership, marketing, manufacturing, and executive leadership to all operate from the Rock Hill facility. Not only that, but the company, which is the largest based in the US to provide end-to-end AM solutions, also states that it will be able to create over 50 new jobs in South Carolina over the next five years.

3D Systems CEO Jeff Graves.

“While 3D Systems is a global company, our headquarters in South Carolina has been its center for many years. This expansion of our Rock Hill campus allows us to bring together key elements of the business to gain efficiencies, and to accelerate innovation and customer adoption of additive manufacturing on an industrial scale,” 3D Systems’ President and CEO Dr. Jeff Graves stated.

“Through our restructuring and investment activities, we will bring new jobs to the area over the next five years which will contribute to the economic development of Rock Hill and South Carolina. The combination of state-of-the-art facilities; renowned hardware, materials, and software; and our leadership in application knowledge will be a catalyst for us to take our innovation to new heights – providing additive manufacturing solutions for specific, high-value applications in growing markets.”

From surgical guides and sporting goods products to sugar, racecar components, and even parts for the Large Hadron Collider, 3D Systems’ advanced materials are a big part of the company’s success, so a larger materials science lab at the expanded facility is practically a given. 3D Systems helps its customers develop bespoke solutions, which include its hardware, software, and materials, to meet their individual business and application requirements, so the extra customer collaboration space should be a great environment for the company’s application engineers to meet with customers and talk shop. This larger area will be important as the company helps clients take their ideas from merely proof of concept to a fully defined workflow and industrial production. Expanded advanced manufacturing capabilities and training facilities won’t hurt either.

“I’m pleased that 3D Systems is expanding their presence in our State. As a leader in additive manufacturing, they provide solutions that are enabling manufacturers in the U.S., as well as globally, to transform how they create products. This is driving innovation and helping raise our country’s competitiveness as a manufacturing powerhouse,” said US Senator Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina. “I’m impressed by 3D Systems’ growth, fueled by the innovation that these investments will continue to support. I look forward to 3D Systems’ success for many years to come.”

3D Systems is projecting that its Rock Hill facility expansion will be done by early 2022.

(Source/Images: 3D Systems)