EOS 3D printing at heart of NW Rapid Manufacturing’s UAV production services

Applications for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have grown significantly in recent decades, driven by demand from various sectors, including defense, agriculture, energy, construction, and logistics. With autonomous or remote-controlled aircraft increasingly used across industries for surveying, reconnaissance, photography, delivery, and more, production requirements have grown, and additive manufacturing has become an integral part of UAV manufacturing.

This growth is exemplified by Northwest UAV, a company founded in 2005 by Chris Harris in a garage in McMinnville, Oregon. When it started, Harris’ company made small single-cylinder engines for a UAV producer called Insitu (which was acquired by Boeing in 2008). Over the years, Northwest UAV grew in size and scope: growing its team to nearly 100 people, supplying engine systems to Insitu and other UAV companies, selling their own UAV engine systems, and even spinning out an SLS manufacturing service, Northwest Rapid Manufacturing, in 2008.

Since 2008, NW Rapid Manufacturing has supported all additive manufacturing needs for Northwest UAV, using its reliable fleet of EOS SLS 3D printers, auxiliary equipment, and skilled engineering team to bring functional prototypes and end-use drone components to life. In recent years, the company has also expanded its services to other customers, such as other UAV manufacturers as well as aerospace, automotive, and medical clients.

We had the opportunity recently to chat with Nick Classen, General Manager at NW Rapid Manufacturing, about the importance of AM—SLS in particular—in the growing UAV market and how the company’s close relationship with powder bed fusion leader EOS has been integral to its success.

A dynamic duo

According to Classen, 3D printing was a natural fit from the early days of the UAV industry, offering a beneficial combination of characteristics to the developers and makers of the flying devices. 

For one, the technology facilitates rapid iterations for prototypes to test functionality and fit, all without the need for tooling. Design freedom has been another key draw, enabling UAV manufacturers to consolidate multiple components into a single assembly and optimize part geometries for weight reduction. 

As Classen told us, “The biggest thing is that we’re seeing a massive reduction in part count and weight. While it used to take 20 pieces to assemble a mounting fixture for something on the aircraft, we can now do it in a single part thanks to the complex geometry achievable with SLS.”

Weight reduction comes as a natural consequence of part consolidation, minimizing the requirements for joinery. The ability to bring down the weight of an aircraft frame or engine structure in a UAV, even by a slim margin, can impact the performance of the drone. “Weight reduction has been a huge focus in the UAV industry because the heavier the device is, the lighter the payload must be and the shorter the flight and loiter time. That’s one of the biggest advantages for SLS 3D printing,” he added.

Compared to other polymer AM technologies, SLS also has the benefit of making strong parts with near-isotropic properties with good tolerances. This means that parts require minimal post-processing and can be used for functional applications, like test prototypes and end-use parts. “SLS is one of the best technologies on the market for UAV applications,” Classen emphasized.

A growing production capacity 

At its facility in McMinnville, Oregon, NW Rapid Manufacturing currently operates three industrial EOS SLS systems, including an EOS P 390 that was built in 2006 and is still going strong. According to Classen, this system, first acquired by the company in 2008, “has been a workhorse for NW Rapid Manufacturing, helping us deliver consistent results for our customers year after year.”

As its production needs grow—driven by its growing customer base and its entry into new industries—NW Rapid Manufacturing is also preparing to install two additional EOS SLS systems: a dual-laser EOS P 770 for high-throughput printing, and a used INTEGRA P 450, designed to bridge the gap between prototyping and series production. A growing fleet of EOS 3D printers is integral to the company’s future plans. As Classen told us: “We’re really looking to double our capacity in 2027 and double it again in 2028.”

Complementing its growing 3D printing capacity is a suite of finishing solutions, including bead blasting (part of its standard production service cost), vibratory finishing, hand sanding, vapor smoothing, drilling, smoothing, painting, dyeing, electroplating and more. “Part of what sets us apart from the other 3D printing services is that we do a wide array of secondary processes ourselves.” These finishes ensure that parts look professional and perform well—both essential criteria for UAVs. 

In terms of materials, NW Rapid Manufacturing works with an array of premium polyamide (Nylon) powders. “For prototyping, most everyone goes with Nylon 12 because it’s the most common material, it’s fairly cheap, and it’s a good baseline for tolerancing for other materials,” Classen said. The company also prints bio-based Nylon 11, as well as specialty powders like fire retardant, carbon fiber-filled, glass fiber-filled, and aluminide-filled nylons. The carbon and glass fiber reinforced powders are particularly popular for UAV structures, as they offer an excellent strength-to-weight ratio as well as stress resistance. In 2027, the company also plans to expand its production to metal parts. 

Drones take flight

The material versatility offered by NW Rapid Manufacturing makes it possible to manufacture a diversity of UAV parts and structures, including engine cowlings, cooling shrouds, fuel tanks, mountings, and various airframe components.  

As we said, the 3D printing service manufactures these parts and more for its parent company Northwest UAV (which itself supplies critical parts to drone companies like Insitu, including for the Boeing Insitu ScanEagle) as well as for other customers in the UAV space. 

Notably, NW Rapid Manufacturing makes parts for Matternet, the leading developer of commercial drone delivery systems, which has partnered with UPS, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), and the Abu Dhabi Medical Network, among others. 

In one use case, the 3D printing service helped Matternet to develop a drone for delivering small goods. The drone needed to be durable, lightweight, and easy to assemble, and NW Rapid Manufacturing helped to iterate various designs using GLS 840 and PA 2201 to find the best structure. In the end, the drone project was a success, with Ido Baruchin, the Head of Design at Matternet, saying: “NW Rapid is the best partner that you want by your side when developing a product.”

“Matternet is the creator of the first FAA-approved drone delivery system in the United States,” Classen said. “And they’re looking to grow pretty significantly in late 2026 and early 2027.” (Specifically, Matternet announced in May that it had raised roughly $33 million in an oversubscribed private placement offering.) NW Rapid Manufacturing has also completed jobs for AeroVironment, a U.S. defense tech company that specializes in unmanned aerial systems.  

The deep in-house knowledge of both SLS 3D printing and UAV system requirements makes NW Rapid Manufacturing a uniquely positioned production partner for the drone industry. Typically, Classen told us, when a UAV customer places an order for a component, NW Rapid Manufacturing’s engineers will provide feedback on the 3D model before printing it. “We’ll tell them what’s going to print best and with the least amount of secondary processing. From there, we’ll typically print a couple prototypes, they’ll do a fit check, and then we’ll move into production. Additionally, if a customer doesn’t have the design ability in house, we can design custom parts for them.”

A strong chain

As a supplier of drone prototypes and end-use components, NW Rapid Manufacturing itself depends on the consistency and reliability of its production hardware. To this end, the company has been grateful to have found a close partner in EOS. As we already said, NW Rapid Manufacturing still operates a 20-year-old 3D printer from EOS, and if that doesn’t prove the longevity of the latter’s systems, we don’t know what will.

This longevity is owed to the hardware itself but also to EOS’ support infrastructure. As Classen said: “For the most part, we just have to get some spare parts here and there. But if we have additional problems with the machines, we can get a tech out the next day. We’re looking to stick with EOS because the support, both for supply chain and technicians, has been big.”