General Electric, to buy two 3D printing companies for a total amount of USD1.4 billion

United States: General Electric, a US-based conglomerate, plans to buy two European companies:

Arcam AB, a Moindal, Sweden based company, which invented the electron beam melting machine for the metal based additive manufacturing, garners customer base in the aerospace & healthcare sectors and,

SLM Solutions Group, a Lubeck, Germany based company provides laser machine for metal based additive manufacturing and caters a customer base in the healthcare, aerospace, energy, automotive sectors.

The business pact aims to strengthen the company’s position by tapping the growing needs of additive manufacturing applications across the company. Furthermore, additive manufacturing is a vital component of GE’s transformation to a digital industrial company.

The deal would aid in leveraging company’s strengths in materials, customer base, software, the product design as well as the overall productivity. GE expects its new additive business would reach up to $1 billion by the year 2020, in correspondence with the expansion plans. Consequently, the deal would allow the company to enter into a fast growing industry plus take a lead in the design and manufacture of some highly valued parts.

TechSci Research depicts that the rising focus of the digital industrial companies like GE in domains such as 3D printing would aid in the acceleration of the overall technology systems. Further, help in the production of new designs and models that are cost efficient.

According to the recently published report by TechSci Research “Global 3D Printers Market Forecast and Opportunities”, 2020, global 3D printers market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of over 31% through 2020. In 2014, North America and Europe dominated global market for 3D printers, on account of significant adoption of personal as well as industrial & metal 3D printers. United States and Germany in particular, witnessed significant increase in adoption of 3D printers across a wide range of industries. Countries such as the Netherlands, Russia, and Italy are other leading markets for 3D printers. A number of technical colleges and universities in these countries have started integrating 3D printing technologies into their course curriculum through collaboration with 3D printer manufacturers and other industry stakeholders. Global 3D printers market is dominated by Stratasys, which accounted for majority share in the market in 2014, and is expected to retain its position through 2020. 3D Systems, EnvisionTEC, and Mcor are other prominent manufacturers of 3D printers globally.