Oerlikon is expanding its global additive-manufacturing (AM) business with a research-and-development and production facility for additively manufactured components in the Charlotte metro area in North Carolina. The company will invest approximately $55 million in the facility in 2017 and 2018 and expects to create over 100 new jobs at the site over the longer term. The facility, which will be fully operational in 2018, will offer U.S. industrial customers a single source for a full suite of integrated services for end-to-end advanced component manufacturing – from R&D, design, applications engineering and series production to post-processing.

The Charlotte region is home to a growing number of global industrial, aerospace and automotive companies. Oerlikon has already started its AM business activities in the area at an interim facility. The company expects the demand for additively manufactured metal components to increase rapidly in the coming years, making it one of the key growth areas in next-generation manufacturing technologies.