A state-of-the-art 3D printing robot demonstration center will be officially unveiled this month by Rapid Fusion as the UK-based robotic 3D printing specialist aims to build on a 25% increase in revenues. The company has completed a £750,000 investment drive that has seen it develop two new additive manufacturing platforms and build a dedicated facility in Exeter to showcase its solutions.

The 5,000 sq ft unit on Skypark will house the firm’s Apollo cell and its latest ZEUS system, which combines a 3D printing robot with a CNC milling capability – providing customers with a turnkey solution for larger molds.

Investment is also flowing into new people, with an LFAM robotic print engineer employed before Christmas. Recruitment of Engineering & Deployment and Software leads will soon follow.

Jake Hand, founder of Rapid Fusion, commented: “2024 was a very good year for us, with revenue surpassing £1.7m on our additive manufacturing platforms…that was way above expectation. “There is a definite move in the market towards larger printing and more complex geometries and we’re not just seeing that from automotive and aerospace, but maritime and even construction where we’ve signed an exciting deal with Italian business Nanoo.”

He continued: “With interest in our technology growing rapidly, we wanted to create a demonstration center that people could visit and see the cells in action. We can even do a few ‘prototype’ trials to prove the speed, accuracy and reliability of our solutions.”

Rapid Fusion is becoming a major player in global additive manufacturing platforms – all designed, built and assembled in the UK with the recent ‘Made in Britain’ certification bonus. The company launched its first bespoke cell, Apollo, last year, and this has already received significant interest due to its ability to offer faster speeds than material extrusion printers (nearly 200 times quicker).

Jake added: “We are always trying to push the boundaries of what is possible, which is reflected in the introduction of Apollo and ZEUS. Our brilliant engineers and designers have also been working on an algorithm for retraction when printing with a Rapid Fusion extruder.v “What does that mean? Well, it will allow us to print more than one object on the same tool path without stringing between parts. This is another first for the industry and, as you would expect, initial feedback has been overwhelming.”

Rapid Fusion, which will be attending IDEX in Abu Dhabi in February and JEC in Paris, has recently signed several new reseller agreements to increase its domestic and global sales. These have included Hyperion in Australia, Accufacture in the US, MAPTEC in Dubai and CNC World in the UK.