Beehive Industries Buys Two Nikon NXGs

For a long time, Beehive Industries was very mysterious. The secretive firm was burning a lot of cash working on something super secret with a tribe of very experienced Additive people. Led by Mohammad Ehteshami, who spent over 32 years at GE working on the GE90 and other engine programs, the company only fairly recently revealed what it is doing. The company got at least a $29 million SOSSEC consortium contract to make lots of 200- and 125-lpf pound engines, the Frenzy 8 and Frenzy 6.

Beehive is developing a family of engines to power drones, missiles, and other craft. Made with 3D printing, these compact, relatively affordable engines can become a key element in the surge underway as the US scales up 3D printing to produce drones and missiles. War in Iran has shown just how quickly the US can deplete its precision arsenal. And now the US wants to make much more of the things that matter. Hundreds of thousands of craft rather than 2500 of the best airplanes in the world.

And Beehive is filling this gap. Only a few weeks ago, the film announced the biggest public EOS order, for $50 million. This order was already huge, giving the company 30 M4 ONYX 3D printers. That order alone in one fell swoop makes them one of the largest capacity companies in North America. The company said that the order “more than doubles Beehive’s metal additive manufacturing capacity.” That would mean it has around 10 to 20 machines now, and with the order it will have over 50. But now the firm wants to do one better and order two NXG 600E as well. In addition to EOS’s evolution of the 400, it now wants one of the largest production systems also. This is significant. I, for one, will do my darnedest to obtain a Beehive Industries T-shirt or hat of some sort to get unlimited free snacks at trade shows. Beehive has said that it wants to make 8000 engines a year at one point. And of course, if we look at the public order, we can see that, in reality, the order is probably much larger than just the initial $29 million. Publicly, the company has raised over $3 million in funding, so there must be more money coming in somewhere.

Additionally, the company has bought two local machine shops, Planet Products and Able Tool, to help them finish parts and perform CNC work. This, coupled with the Nikon order, means the Ohio-based company is scaling across the board. And being in Ohio is a great asset. There will be real political help there for the firm in Washington if it brings in orders and creates more jobs for the state. Manufacturing is important to Ohio, and the state has been a locus of lots of America Makes attention and love. Including rent, the cost of living in Ohio could be as much as 28% lower than in Los Angeles, and rent could be half as much. This could be an advantage in paying people more or having them live better for the same money. Sure, LA is cooler, but how many taco truck tacos equal an extra bedroom?

Beehive states that the NXG purchase is set to fund and calls it a “significant investment in NXG 600E systems.” The 600x600x1500mm systems are to be used for Ti6Al4V and Constellium’s Aheadd CP1. This is yet another very public win for CP1, the powder of champions. It’s insane how quickly everyone is becoming a total fan of this material. And how great, of course, that America Makes and Nikon were working on the materials dataset for this a year ago. This should get even more people to look at CP1 and how it is being used at scale.

The two printers will be used for “whole vehicle bodies, large substructures for satellites, and other large, 3D-printed components for space and A&D customers.” Does that mean that they want to make a hypersonic cruiser body out of CP1? Or are we talking spars and bodies made of Ti?

Darius Ehteshami, Chief Operations and Finance Officer at Beehive Industries, said,

“There is a heavy overlap between the customers who rely on Beehive’s propulsion solutions and those who require advanced aerospace printed solutions. By investing proactively in these machines, Beehive is uniquely positioned to provide aerostructures and parts that enable our customers to fly higher and fly faster. This is Beehive doubling down on our history of large format additive manufacturing, supporting our customers in both the A&D area and in space.”

Hamid Zarringhalam, CEO and General Manager of Nikon Advanced Manufacturing, said,

“Manufacturers supporting today’s defense programs require production technology that can scale quickly and reliably. Beehive Industries has built an impressive business around advanced propulsion and aerospace manufacturing, and we’re proud to support their continued growth with the NXG 600E platform.” He further commented, “Our companies are deeply committed to enabling and scaling the defense industrial base, and this represents a key step in delivering the advanced manufacturing capabilities that are crucial to the United States and our allied partners.”

Jonaaron Jones, President of Additive Parts Sales at Beehive Industries, stated,

“This investment marks the natural evolution of our company, seamlessly carrying our legacy of large-format expertise forward into the next generation of manufacturing for our external parts customers across the space, defense, and aerostructures sectors,”

It seems that Beehive is becoming more Sintavia-like once again and opening up more to orders from the industry as a whole. This, in addition to its engine programs, could help it scale more. I really like how Beehive seems to be scaling sensibly. Rocket engines are hard enough, and the firm is relying on multiple vendors to underpin its growth. By focusing on process control, design, and production, the company can scale in line with expectations and capabilities to capture a burgeoning defense market hungry for additive goods.