In recent years, the popularity of 3D printing technology has not only spawned a number of start-up companies, but even many large international consortia with large hands have also actively started their investment in this industry. After Japan's Sumitomo Corporation invested in SINTAVIA for the first time in 2018, it has recently increased its investment again to help the company expand its production capacity and accelerate its high-performance aviation component additive manufacturing services.
In the aviation field, SINTAVIA focuses on the manufacture of 3D printed metal parts and provides services to many companies. The company was certified by Honeywell in 2016 to provide 3D printed parts for spacecraft and defense products, including gas turbine auxiliary power unit APU, turboshaft engines, turbofan engines, and engine control valves. . Based on the company's 3D printing technology for key flight parts, the two parties will also help SINTAVIA explore more industrial manufacturing opportunities on the basis of further cooperation in the future.
3D printed metal parts made by SINTAVIA
As the investor of SINTAVIA, Sumitomo Corporation has also invested in a number of additive manufacturing companies in the past few years to strengthen its strength in new fields. Earlier this year, Sumitomo Group invested in 3D printing material developer Elementum 3D to promote the company's research and development of 3D printing technology powder materials to help customers improve the manufacturing performance of their products.
In addition, as early as 2017, Sumitomo acquired the start-up Persimmon Technologies at a price of 33 million U.S. dollars to strengthen the manufacturing capabilities of its sprayed metal 3D printing product line and accelerate the exploration of new opportunities in the field of electric hybrid power.
This shows that Sumitomo Corporation hopes to use its additive manufacturing capabilities to help the manufacturing capabilities of its automotive and other product lines. It seems that even a large international consortium such as Sumitomo, in the face of the emergence of new technologies, can only cater to changes in order to remain invincible in the new era.