Zenith Tecnica Changes Ownership, Plans to Grow Titanium EBM Fleet from Six to Eight Machines
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Originally reported by 3D Printing Industry
Zenith Tecnica, an Auckland-based contract manufacturer that builds titanium parts using Electron Beam Melting, completed a change of ownership on 18 June 2026. The company was acquired by Andrew Burgess and Blair Jordan, an ownership pair with backgrounds in aerospace manufacturing tied to Boeing and Amazon's low-earth-orbit satellite work, plus experience in regulated food and dairy production. Founded in 2014, Zenith grew its EBM fleet from five machines to six before demand outpaced capacity, and the new owners are adding two more units to reach eight, alongside a move to larger premises. Departing owner Heather Grace, who led the business through its prior growth phase, will stay on as interim general manager through the end of August 2026 before stepping toward retirement.
EBM remains a narrower process family than laser powder bed fusion within metal AM, with far fewer bureaus running production-scale fleets, which is why Zenith's claim to one of the world's largest installed EBM base carries weight. Its customer base sits squarely in the two verticals where AM qualification burden is highest, aerospace and medical, backed by AS9100 and ISO 13485 certifications that function as the gatekeeping credentials for those programs. Demand outrunning six machines, rather than a product launch or funding round, is the more telling signal here: it points to established Ti-6Al-4V production references pulling in more work than a specialist bureau built to serve them. New Zealand's AM sector is small by global standards, and Zenith's scale in this specific process niche is a disproportionate contributor to that footprint.
Execution risk sits in the handoff itself. The new owners bring adjacent manufacturing discipline from aerospace and food safety, but not a documented AM operating track record, and they are simultaneously relocating facilities and expanding machine count during a leadership transition that ends when Grace departs at the end of August. Aerospace and medical customers under AS9100 and ISO 13485 typically require supplier requalification after ownership or facility changes, so how cleanly Zenith carries its existing program approvals through the move will determine whether this expansion converts into delivered output or a qualification bottleneck.
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