AM Weekly · Week 44: China metal AM: Farsoon cuts share offering while Global Laser Box, Hongrida, BLT and Hasen expand

Vertical integration is bringing additive manufacturing into automakers’ plants. Rivian reports more than $5 million in printer investment, Ford plans labs at more than 23 plants, and FAW describes a 43-printer center. Rivian’s one-year payback and FAW’s RMB 30.59 million in annual savings are self-reported, with full post-processing costs undisclosed. For equipment suppliers, the opportunity is to win factory programs that can prove savings beyond the print step.

Farsoon cut its proposed equity raise to RMB 1.754B and removed the equipment expansion project. Global Laser Box and Chrome Platinum announced Changsha bases. Hongrida set up a Hunan equipment subsidiary. BLT approved a CNY117.98M injection into its materials subsidiary. Hasen signed an RMB 100M titanium powder project. Capacity is planned, and demand and utilization evidence is not disclosed.

Farsoon's proposed equity raise is now RMB 1.754 billion, and the equipment expansion project has been removed from it. Two projects totaling RMB 2.835 billion remain, and regulatory approval is pending. The sources reviewed do not state why the equipment project was removed. This is the second cut this month. On Oct 10–11 Farsoon lowered the ceiling by RMB 970 million to RMB 2.94 billion while keeping equipment expansion, and RMB 1.513 billion of that version was allocated to AM services. Earlier filings also reported 222 printers produced in H1 2026 and a plan for 1,000 additional units annually. That unit plan sat in the equipment project, which is no longer part of the offering.

Two Changsha announcements came in the same week, and Farsoon is also headquartered in Changsha. Global Laser Box signed a 5,000-square-meter leased site for LPBF equipment, printing services and laser production, with output targeted for Q1 2027. Chrome Platinum broke ground on Oct 27, 2026 on a base combining meter-class industrial metal printers, consumer AI metal printers and print services. The two names are not shown to be the same entity. The internal index files the DP-series consumer printers under both names, but no source here establishes a relationship. Global Laser Box closed a near-RMB 200 million Series A in September. Neither announcement discloses customers, order backlog or investment amounts for the bases.

Hongrida set up a wholly owned Hunan subsidiary with RMB 10 million in registered capital. It is permitted to manufacture and sell AM equipment. The mid-2026 installation target that has been reported for Hongrida remains unverified.

BLT's board approved a CNY117.98 million capital injection into its wholly owned materials subsidiary, funded from proceeds raised in 2023. The subsidiary reported no revenue through September 2026. For context, BLT reported RMB 770 million of H1 revenue, up 15%, and on Oct 10 proposed a RMB 1 billion metal AM base in Taicang. Separately, Hasen signed a RMB 100 million titanium powder project agreement. Production in Henan is planned for March 2027, supplying titanium powder for 3D printing and metal injection molding.

Rivian, Ford and GM expanded in-plant 3D printing for tooling and production parts

Rivian reported over $5M in printer investment and one-year payback at its Normal plant. Ford plans labs at more than 23 plants and added a printed-parts vending machine for F-150 production. GM reported over 130 printed Cadillac Celestiq parts. FAW detailed a 43-printer center with RMB 30.59M in annual savings. Savings figures are self-reported and exclude full post-processing cost.

Rivian reported more than $5M in 3D-printing equipment investment at its Normal plant. The company's account puts annual printing material costs at $1.7M and says the machines usually pay for themselves within a year. The expansion adds on-demand printers with wider access across the plant. The one-year payback and the $1.7M material figure are Rivian's own. The sources don't say whether the payback includes post-processing, inspection or labor, so it is better read as a print-step figure than as full production economics.

Ford said it expects 3D labs at more than 23 plants by the end of 2026. External coverage adds that its current program has more than 200 machines. The program gives plant workers access to printed tools. Separately, Ford added a printed-parts vending machine serving F-150 production near Dearborn. Plant AM departments distribute printed factory aids through it. These are tooling and factory aids, not vehicle parts. The same coverage notes that a temporary printed replacement part shows the need to check performance application by application.

GM reported more than 130 additively manufactured parts in the Cadillac Celestiq. One example is a 3D-printed metal seat belt guide loop. This is the one end-use-part claim among the automaker items this week. The sources don't give production volumes, the processes used, or how many of the 130 parts are metal. The Celestiq is a low-volume vehicle, so the count shows breadth of part types rather than serial throughput. Separately, a Stratasys expansion targets tools and replacement parts at GM facilities. The sources give no scope or value for it.

In China, FAW described a 43-printer automotive AM center and reported RMB 30.59M in annual savings from printed interior substrates. The account revisits the center FAW covered in August, so the facility is not new this week. The savings figure is self-reported. As with Rivian, the sources don't say whether it covers full post-processing cost.

GKN, Norsk Titanium, MTC and Rosebank advanced qualification of directed energy deposition in aerospace

GKN Aerospace reported Nadcap accreditation for laser-wire DED. Norsk Titanium received a Rolls-Royce order for a Ti-6Al-4V structural part. MTC selected Caracol's robotic arc DED platform for qualification research. Rosebank, RMIT and Swinburne started a laser DED repair qualification project. Mazak and Meltio launched hybrid DED-and-machining systems.

GKN Aerospace reported Nadcap accreditation for laser wire directed energy deposition (L-DED-w), and says it is the first company to hold one for the process. An independent audit validated its equipment, personnel, material handling and traceability controls. Nadcap accredits a process and the controls around it, so it is not the same as qualification of a specific part. The accreditation sits alongside programs already in GKN's record: the $8.4M TITAN-AM program with AFRL and a July 2026 agreement with Pratt & Whitney targeting 2028 certification of L-DED-w F135 engine casings. The "first" claim comes from GKN. I found no independent prior-art check in the coverage.

Norsk Titanium received a Rolls-Royce order for a Ti-6Al-4V structural part. The part will be deposited in Norway and machined in Germany, for possible use in a civil aerospace program. External coverage describes the order as being for an undisclosed component, and says it makes Norsk Titanium an approved supplier for Rolls-Royce development activities. This is a development-stage order, not serial production, and no volume or value was disclosed. Norsk Titanium's recent record includes a recurring production contract with Northrop Grumman (2026-05-28) and selection for America Makes' $10.5M JAQS-SQ qualification program (2026-08-04). Rolls-Royce is a new name among its disclosed customers.

On the equipment and research side, the Manufacturing Technology Centre selected Caracol's Vipra XP AM robotic arc DED platform. MTC will use it to research and qualify large-format metal applications at its national additive manufacturing centre. The source gives no part, material or customer. Separately, Rosebank Engineering leads a two-year laser DED repair project with RMIT and Swinburne. The team will test laser rescanning as a way to qualify military aircraft repairs without post-process heat treatment. The project is at the research stage, and the sources do not say which components or platforms are in scope.

Two machine launches fall in the same week and are not production evidence. Mazak launched the INTEGREX i-450S NEO AM from JPY216.8 million. It combines powder-fed laser deposition with cutting and grinding, and targets coating and surface-treatment work in one clamping. Meltio powers Horkos's NX70 DUO hybrid DED-and-machining system in Japan. One customer sale is reported, and no cycle-time, accuracy or cost data has been published. Hybrid DED-and-machining is an established configuration. Meltio's own earlier coverage includes CNC integration kits, so neither launch is new in category terms. Whether either system holds up economically is not addressed in the sources.

This Week in Brief

Funding

AC3D - AC3D received investment from Transgulf Readymix in a $3 million late-seed round, targeting a close by the end of 2026 to fund printable concrete development.
Global Laser Box - Global Laser Box plans a late-November crowdfunding campaign for the GLB-M1 metal printer, whose price, material compatibility and print quality remain undisclosed or unverified.
Aurora Labs - Aurora Labs secured A$6 million in placement commitments to expand AU4 turbojet production, with A$1.4 million subject to shareholder approval.

Product & Technology

HeyGears - HeyGears launched the Reflex 2 Max resin printer, offering a 353.3 × 198.7 × 400 mm build volume and support for more than 30 engineering resins.
Austal USA - Austal USA reported that its Navy additive manufacturing center has produced over 1,100 printed articles, with more than 30 installed on Navy and Coast Guard vessels.
Beehive Industries - Beehive Industries tested its 100-pound-thrust Frenzy 6 engine prototype on the ground four months after Air Force requirements were set, with flight testing planned for 2027.
Creality - Creality opened US preorders for the K3 printer from $849, citing a four-nozzle KliTek system and claimed print-time reductions of up to 80%.
JR East - JR East plans to have Aizawa Concrete print the replacement Osano Station building on site by March 2027, following demolition and a temporary passenger-route change.
JEOL - JEOL and its research partners tested full-size 3D-printed tungsten fusion tiles in 74 plasma discharges at DIII-D, where the tiles stayed intact after about four minutes of exposure.
Advanced Manufacturing Partners - Advanced Manufacturing Partners selected Austin for a facility housing $30 million in equipment, with operations expected to begin in November 2026 for hardware companies scaling production.
ARUM Dentistry - ARUM Dentistry exhibited 3D-printed pure copper induction coils, citing a customer report that a seamless coil lasted more than twice as long as a welded one.

Partnership

EOS - EOS partnered with BIZU Space to provide design training and engineering support for the company's exploration of metal 3D printing in rocket propulsion components.
RN Center for Additive Technologies - RN Center for Additive Technologies signed an agreement with the Belarusian nuclear plant to plan a roadmap for regulation, accredited laboratories and testing of printed auxiliary equipment.
Fusetec 3D - Fusetec 3D and Adelaide University are developing CT-scan-based dental models for molar-removal training; materials, validation results and deployment scale were not reported.
ROKIT Healthcare - ROKIT Healthcare plans December exports of its Dr. INVIVO platform and January procedures in China, using a Hainan hospital program to collect real-world data.
3D Systems - 3D Systems donated a NextDent 300 printer to Remote Area Medical, which operates it in Knoxville, Tennessee, for free denture care.

Compiled from 35 sources across AMPulse's news index. Week 44 of 2026.