www.3ders.org

Mar 9, 2017 | By Tess

Last year, multinational company GE acquired a 75% stake in German 3D printing company Concept Laser with the plan to get full ownership in coming years. Now, it seems GE is upping its investment in Concept Laser as it has announced that the latter will undergo some serious expansion. This expansion will include establishing a bigger headquarters for Concept Laser, increasing its employee base and support teams, and investing significantly in next-gen additive manufacturing equipment and materials.

In terms of physical growth, GE is preparing a significant expansion to Concept Laser’s headquarters in Lichtenfels, Germany. According to GE, the new headquarters will be expanded to include space for manufacturing, product development, testing, and administration. Architectural concepts for the hew HQ are currently being finalized.

GE has indicated that it has already increased Concept Laser’s employee number from 200 to 244 and is planning to further increase it to between 350 and 400 by early 2018. The company is reportedly looking primarily for more engineers and technicians. As a statement from the companies says: “Concept Laser is bolstering its field service operations in the United States and Germany, and adding engineers in such areas as production, quality control, development and test.”

Concept Laser, which was founded in 2000 by Frank and Kerstin Herzog, is a reputable and pioneering developer of metal 3D printing technologies. The company, which is also known for its innovative LaserCUSING technology, has operations in Grapevine, Texas, as well as China and its home country of Germany. The company also has a wide network of distributors and agents around the globe.

“Over several years, Concept Laser grew quickly and established a strong reputation with our innovations,” said Frank Herzog. “GE is enabling us to grow our infrastructure and bring more robust processes and greater resources to our operations. Our immediate focus is to mature our machines and apply the additional resources to improve customer responsiveness and mature, grow, and improve our product offerings.”

Currently, GE and Concept Laser are working together on a number of projects. For one, Concept Laser is collaborating with the GE Additive Technology Center (ATC) to help identify areas where metal 3D printing can be used to manufacture complex metal components on a mass scale, including parts for GE Aviation jet engines.

As Herzog commented: “ATC is a critical piece of the puzzle for Concept Laser. We’ve been a manufacturer of the machines and materials for years, but ATC is giving us new insights into the process of product and materials qualification because GE is such an important end user of the technology. The learning is tremendous and will accelerate the development process.”

Both companies are also working together to develop new additive manufacturing technologies which could help advance industries such as aerospace, automotive, and more.

Before acquiring 75% of Concept Laser, GE made a failed bid for German AM company SLM. Despite the setback, GE went on to acquire Concept Laser and Swedish additive manufacturing company Arcam AB.

 

 

Posted in 3D Printer Company

 

 

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