PBF-LB (Laser) Companies

PBF-LB (Laser) (PBF-LB) is Selective Laser Sintering: a laser sinters polymer powder; no support structures needed, enables complex geometries. AMPulse tracks 50 companies using PBF-LB (Laser) as a core technology, ranked below by total funding raised.

Typical materials: PA12 (nylon 12), PA11, TPU, PEEK, glass- and carbon-filled nylons. Common applications: end-use polymer parts, automotive, aerospace, consumer products.

Market structure

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) is the originating polymer powder bed fusion process, commercialized by DTM Corporation in 1990 and acquired by 3D Systems in 2001. SLS uses a CO2 laser, or increasingly fiber laser, to selectively sinter polymer powder layer by layer; the surrounding unsintered powder serves as integral support, eliminating the need for support structures and enabling complex internal geometries that other AM processes cannot match without redesign. Build chambers typically range 250 to 700mm in each dimension. SLS has been the production-grade polymer AM workhorse for two decades, but is now under direct pressure from MJF (HP) and SAF (Stratasys) on speed and cost-per-part economics. Its surviving advantages are material breadth (PA12, PA11, TPU, PEEK, glass and carbon-reinforced nylons, flame-retardant grades), part isotropy, and a large installed base of validated applications across automotive, aerospace, and medical.

Key players

EOS (Germany) leads the industrial segment with the P-series, particularly P396 and P-110 desktop variants, followed by 3D Systems' sPro and ProX SLS lines. Farsoon (China) has emerged as a credible challenger, offering systems at 50-70% of EOS pricing with similar performance for less-demanding applications. Prodways targets specialty applications. Sintratec (Switzerland) and Sinterit (Poland) own the desktop and benchtop segment, bringing SLS to small bureaus and design studios. Service bureaus running large SLS fleets - Materialise, Fathom Digital, Stratasys Direct (formerly RedEye and Solid Concepts), Forecast 3D - were the primary buyers of industrial SLS for two decades.

Recent dynamics

The SLS-versus-MJF battle has become the defining competitive question for polymer powder bed fusion. MJF wins on raw throughput; SLS wins on material flexibility and proven part-quality at the high end. The middle ground is collapsing: 3D Systems' SLS business has lost share to MJF, while EOS has differentiated via material innovation and very high-volume systems (P-770) for true serial production. Farsoon's pricing pressure is forcing OEM differentiation up-market. Quality-management workflows (Materialise CO-AM, EOSIE) increasingly determine system value as customers move from one-off prototypes to qualified production runs.

Forward outlook

SLS likely stabilizes as the established alternative when MJF doesn't fit: for materials MJF doesn't support (PEEK, PEKK), for very large parts, or for applications requiring proven 20-year process pedigree. The desktop sub-segment (Sintratec, Sinterit) is interesting but small. The risk is technological obsolescence: if continuous polymer processes reach production parity, SLS becomes a legacy tail rather than an active growth segment.