Forever locked into battle, 3D printing industry leaders Stratasys and 3D Systems compete with one another in an endless series of product releases, business acquisitions, and marketing campaigns. This past year, Stratasys announced that, to further its rapid prototyping service, RedEye, it had purchased the United States’ largest 3D printing and prototyping service, Solid Concepts. Not to be outdone, 3D Systems is furthering its own 3D printing service, Quickparts, with the acquisition of Laser Reproductions, a 3D printing product development and engineering service based out of Columbus, Ohio.
Laser Reproductions has been in the 3D printing industry for three decades. With its own production capabilities that are, according to the 3DS press release, “rooted in regional infrastructure and supported by long-term, key relationships with regional blue chip companies”, the company will further 3D Systems’ Quickparts service network. According to the company, the purchase is thought to bring in a profit for the industry leader, with 3D Systems saying that it is “expected to be immediately accretive to 3DS’ cash generation and to contribute to its non-GAAP earnings per share within the first 12 months.”
Vice President and General Manager of Quickparts for 3DS, Ziad Abou relayed, “Laser Reproductions has a wealth of experience and bench strength that is highly complementary to our Quickparts offering. This acquisition further enhances our on-demand, quick-turn cloud manufacturing services and drives accelerated adoption of our solutions through meaningful new customer relationships. We are delighted to add such powerful regional capabilities to our growing North American footprint.”
President of Laser Reproductions, Paul Bordner, added, “3D Systems is the recognized leader in advanced manufacturing and has an exceptional track record in providing the highest quality parts services globally. Having relied on 3D Systems’ hardware, software and devices for years, we couldn’t be more excited to join the 3DS team and be in a position to provide unrivaled parts services to our customers long into the future.”
This is the second Ohio-based company that 3D Systems has acquired in the past week, including medical modeling firm Simbionix. Though Simbionix also has headquarters in Israel, I am trying to connect the dots between their recent purchases and the United States’ first 3D printing institute, America Makes, based in Youngstown, Ohio. With the addition of former White House staffer Neal Orringer as 3D Systems’ Vice President of Alliances and Partnerships, it’s possible that the company is further nestling itself into the country’s base of 3D printing operations. Then again, I’m just spit ballin’ here.
