Farsoon Expands U.S. 3D Printing Presence with Additive Plus Partnership on the West Coast

As members of China’s additive manufacturing (AM) sector expand further into the West, one of the nation’s leading firms, Farsoon Technologies, has announced a strategic partnership with Additive Plus. This collaboration marks a significant milestone in bringing the company’s laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) portfolio to the West Coast of the United States, catering to a diverse range of industries including automotive, dental, healthcare, and education.

Farsoon Teams with Additive Plus

Known for its open system, Farsoon’s machines offer flexibility in materials and printing parameters, a feature that is increasingly recognized as essential in the industry. This open system allows users to work with custom and traditional materials, providing full control over laser settings to meet the specific needs of diverse applications.

“I am excited to partner with Additive Plus to bring the latest Farsoon’s laser powder bed technology to the western US market. With their strong knowhow in a variety of manufacturing technologies, Additive Plus will be a valuable resource for customers and Farsoon,” said Don Xu, Managing Director of Farsoon Americas.

Additive Plus CEO Ashkhen Ovsepyan.

Additive Plus is run by CEO Ashkhen Ovsepyan, who boasts an academic background in physics and public administration from Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 and Lomonosov Moscow State University. She co-founded SIU System in 2008, leading it to become a leading provider of 3D printing solutions in Eastern Europe.

Located in Torrance, California, Additive Plus offers comprehensive services that include on-demand 3D printing, digitization, application engineering, as well as strategic technology consulting. The company’s product offerings encompass a broad spectrum of 3D printing solutions, including Roboze’s industrial fused filament 3D printers, 3DCeram’s ceramic stereolithography 3D printers, Nexa3D’s ultrafast resin 3D printers, and now Farsoon Technologies’ metal and plastic LPBF 3D printers. Additive Plus also provides laboratory metal atomizers.

“Given that Additive Manufacturing and laboratory atomization technologies are our core offerings, we’ve learned from our clients that the ability to work with custom and traditional materials is a game changer,” said Harry B. Saltos, Business Development Manager of Additive Plus. “Access to an open system providing full laser control is the emerging trend in both industry and academia. Farsoon offers the freedom to work with any material and control all printing parameters, making it the key to next-generation manufacturing.”

Farsoon and its Chinese Competition

Given the sheer size of the U.S., it makes sense for Farsoon to grow beyond its Texas office in the country and establish an outreach on the West Coast. Meanwhile, the company added four additional team members to its European office in Germany. However, Farsoon is not the only LPBF firm from China that is making significant inroads into the U.S. and Europe. Its two leading competitors so far are EPlus3D and Bright Laser Technologies (BLT). All three have boasted large customers domestically and abroad, while also introducing larger systems with many more lasers.

In the case of Farsoon, which is traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the company has demonstrated robust financial performance with significant growth in total assets, increasing from 494.7 million CNY in 2020 to over 1.1 billion CNY by the end of 2022. This expansion in assets is coupled with a solid capital structure, shown with a total equity increase from 348 million CNY in 2020 to 756 million CNY in 2022, along with working capital that has more than doubled in the same period.

Farsoon stock (688433.SS) vs BLT stock (688333.SS).

However, the other publicly traded LPBF leader, BLT, has been growing much more rapidly. Its total assets almost doubled from 1.68 billion CNY in 2020 to over 3 billion CNY by the end of 2022. Bright Laser also showed an increase in total equity, with its value growing from 1.16 billion CNY in 2020 to 1.52 billion CNY in 2022, compared to Farsoon’s total equity of 756 million CNY in 2022.

In terms of liquidity, BLT has a higher working capital compared to Farsoon. However, Bright Laser showed significant negative free cash flow in the trailing twelve months (TTM) and for the year ended 2022, suggesting that it may be spending more cash than it is generating. This is in contrast with Farsoon, which had a lower level of total debt, indicating potentially less risk in terms of leverage.

Altogether, Farsoon seems to be demonstrating a more conservative overall growth pattern, while BLT is shooting for extremely quick growth. Take that to mean what you will in terms of the quality of their respective offerings and their future in the market. Despite Farsoon’s negative free cash flow in the TTM, the partnership with Additive Plus could signal strategic moves towards harnessing its financial strengths for expansion and capturing new market opportunities on the West Coast.