HP Continues its Expansion in 3D Printing

HP (NYSE:HPQ) at its second annual EMEA innovation summit announced on Tuesday (May 22) that it has expanded installations of its HP Jet Fusion 3D printing solutions with digital manufacturing innovators Protolabs (NYSE:PRLB), Materialise (NASDAQ:MTLS) and ZiggZagg.

HP focused on 3D Printing and Immersive Computing for this year’s event as it believes that these two areas are poised to reshape the $12 trillion global manufacturing sector.

Further, the company revealed a number of new applications for its 3D printing technology as it explores the technology’s role as a catalyst for the fourth industrial revolution.

“The digital transformation of the $12 trillion manufacturing industry is changing the game for the world’s designers, product developers, manufacturing and supply chain professionals, creating massive opportunity for the 3D printing ecosystem,” Ramon Pastor, general manager of Multi Jet Fusion, HP Inc said in the release.

The new applications include lighter weight helmets for the Pontifical Swiss Guard, custom merchandising for PepsiCo, airflow manifolds for auto racing, industrial machinery used in the construction of skyscrapers and orthosis devices for improving the quality of life for patients. These new applications are in collaboration with the International Additive Manufacturing (IAM) 3D Hub, which brings together private companies, public entities and R&D organizations.

“In collaboration with our customers, we are proud to reinvent the way the world designs and manufacturers and to drive innovative new applications made possible with HP Multi Jet Fusion. Whether it’s helping the Swiss Guard protect the Vatican or reinventing what can be done for an entire industry like orthopedics, the possibilities are endless,” Pastor said.

In terms of the expansion of its Jet Fusion solutions, the company announced that Protolabs has upgraded its seven HP Jet Fusion 3D printers to HP Jet Fusion 4210 3D systems as it seeks to meet the increased demand for global 3D production services.

“The demand for 3D-printed production applications continues to grow and HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology is furthering our ability to deliver our customers industrial-grade parts quickly and cost-effectively,” said Vicki Holt, president and CEO of Protolabs. “By expanding the capacity of our HP Multi Jet Fusion services and installing printers in the United States and Europe, we are meeting the needs of our global customer base and demonstrating that geographically distributed, on-demand production is a reality today.”

It was also revealed that ZiggZagg, a 3D provider in Belgium has installed six HP Jet Fusion 4210 3D printers to produce parts for their customers across the medical, consumer goods, automotive and industrial markets.

Also noted in the announcement was Materalise, a company that provides of Additive Manufacturing software and services for the medical and industrial markets along HP entered into an agreement with RSPrint to scale an end to end 3D solution to design and manufacture individualized insoles.

Following Tuesday’s announcement, shares of HP closed the trading at $22.07 on Tuesday and was down 0.09 percent over a one day trading period. The stock has a moderate buy ranking on TipRanks with analyst target price of $25.75.

Protolabs’ shares were down 1.89 percent and closed the trading on Tuesday at $119.60 while shares of Materialise closed the Tuesday trading session at $12.43, down 0.72 percent.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.