Ningbo Zhongke Xianglong reveals 136-machine metal AM factory at 2026 Advanced Additive Manufacturing Summit
Originally reported by 南极熊3D打印网
The 2026 Advanced Additive Manufacturing and High-End Application Development Summit, held June 3-5 in Ningbo, Zhejiang, served as the venue for Ningbo Zhongke Xianglong Lightweight Technology Co., Ltd. to disclose detailed operational metrics from its metal additive manufacturing production facility. The company operates 76 metal SLM systems and 60 arc-wire DED (WAAM) units, totaling 136 industrial AM machines, and reports cumulative delivery of over 20,000 high-reliability lightweight components with a first-pass yield of 98.7%. Zhongke Xianglong claims weight reductions exceeding 30% and lead-time compression of 40% versus conventional manufacturing, with 40+ contracted support tasks from AVIC and other state-owned aerospace enterprises.
This disclosure is significant because it provides rare granularity on a Chinese metal AM production site operating at scale. The 136-machine fleet, split between LPBF and DED, reflects the Chinese localization arc pattern (P2): a domestic entrant has built integrated design-to-production capability for aerospace structural components, moving beyond spec-matching into serial production with named customer references. The 98.7% yield and 20,000-part delivery volume place Zhongke Xianglong in direct comparison with Western aerospace AM suppliers like GKN Additive and Sintavia, though the Chinese firm benefits from lower labor costs and state-linked demand. The facility's 5G-enabled digital manufacturing line and 60 WAAM units also signal a bet on large-format DED for hypersonic vehicle structures, a segment where Western capacity remains fragmented.
From an expert standpoint, Zhongke Xianglong's disclosed metrics — 76 SLM plus 60 WAAM, 98.7% yield, 20,000 parts delivered — represent a credible industrial benchmark that the broader AM industry should track. The company's next challenge is extending this production discipline beyond captive aerospace programs into commercial multi-vertical applications, where cost discipline and qualification portability will determine whether this capacity becomes a genuine export competitor or remains a domestic defense supplier. The summit itself, co-organized by the Fujian Functional Resin and Composite Engineering Research Center and BIG Additive Vision, functioned primarily as a networking platform; the substantive news is Zhongke Xianglong's operational transparency.