China’s additive manufacturing (AM) industry has spent years trying to reduce its reliance on foreign technology. In polymer 3D printing, domestic companies have already become major players. In metal AM, however, Western companies have historically dominated some of the most advanced industrial systems. But that may be changing.
A recent funding announcement from Chinese wire-fed metal AM company Rongsu Technology offers a glimpse into a broader trend taking place across China’s manufacturing sector. The company secured nearly RMB 100 million ($14 million) in Series A funding earlier this year from the government-backed Zhongyuan Yuzi Group and the Suzhou High-tech Venture Capital Group to accelerate domestic, large-scale industrial AM. While the investment itself is amazing, the bigger story may be what companies like Rongsu represent: China’s effort to build a fully domestic metal AM ecosystem.
Rongsu stand at TCT Asia. Image courtesy of Rongsu Technology.
Founded in 2020, Rongsu focuses on wire-fed metal AM, including wire arc AM (WAAM) and wire-laser AM (WLAM) technologies. The funding will be used to establish a RMB 500 million ($74 million) global service headquarters in Suzhou, expand production of the STAR series machinery, and drive commercial adoption within major Chinese state-owned heavy industrial enterprises.
According to Rongsu, it has developed a multi-laser coaxial wire-fed system designed to improve process stability, part quality, and production efficiency. In fact, one of the company’s most interesting points is that its technology can achieve deposition rates of up to 4 kilograms per hour.
HyperCoax laser heads systems can achieve precision levels down to ≈ 5 μm. Image courtesy of Rongsu Technology.
The faster a machine can deposit metal, the quicker it can produce large industrial parts. A system capable of 4 kg/hour is ideal for manufacturing large aerospace, shipbuilding, energy, and industrial components rather than smaller, high-precision parts.
While that figure is not unusual in the broader wire-fed metal AM market, it is competitive with many industrial systems. For example, systems using wire-laser technology, such as those from Meltio, “trade raw throughput for fine-feature precision,” typically operating at a lower deposition baseline of 0.5 to 1 kg/hour. Moving into the broader WAAM segment, Gefertec has stated that its WAAM deposition rates typically range from 2 to 5 kg/hour. Similar to Gefertec, WAAM3D operates at a standard baseline of 3 kg/hour for typical high-quality geometries. However, its large-format RoboWAAM XP and RoboWAAM PLUS platforms have reported rates of up to 15 kg/hour. While still wire-fed, Sciaky, at the extreme upper end of the market, boasts even higher deposition rates, having demonstrated peak rates exceeding 18 kg/hour with its electron beam AM (EBAM) technology. If Rongsu’s results hold up in production, they suggest that Chinese manufacturers are beginning to
China’s additive manufacturing (AM) industry has spent years trying to reduce its reliance on foreign technology. In polymer 3D printing, domestic companies have already become major players. In metal AM, however, Western companies have historically dominated some of the most advanced industrial systems. But that may be changing.
A recent funding announcement from Chinese wire-fed metal AM company Rongsu Technology offers a glimpse into a broader trend taking place across China’s manufacturing sector. The company secured nearly RMB 100 million ($14 million) in Series A funding earlier this year from the government-backed Zhongyuan Yuzi Group and the Suzhou High-tech Venture Capital Group to accelerate domestic, large-scale industrial AM. While the investment itself is amazing, the bigger story may be what companies like Rongsu represent: China’s effort to build a fully domestic metal AM ecosystem.
Rongsu stand at TCT Asia. Image courtesy of Rongsu Technology.
Founded in 2020, Rongsu focuses on wire-fed metal AM, including wire arc AM (WAAM) and wire-laser AM (WLAM) technologies. The funding will be used to establish a RMB 500 million ($74 million) global service headquarters in Suzhou, expand production of the STAR series machinery, and drive commercial adoption within major Chinese state-owned heavy industrial enterprises.
According to Rongsu, it has developed a multi-laser coaxial wire-fed system designed to improve process stability, part quality, and production efficiency. In fact, one of the company’s most interesting points is that its technology can achieve deposition rates of up to 4 kilograms per hour.
HyperCoax laser heads systems can achieve precision levels down to ≈ 5 μm. Image courtesy of Rongsu Technology.
The faster a machine can deposit metal, the quicker it can produce large industrial parts. A system capable of 4 kg/hour is ideal for manufacturing large aerospace, shipbuilding, energy, and industrial components rather than smaller, high-precision parts.
While that figure is not unusual in the broader wire-fed metal AM market, it is competitive with many industrial systems. For example, systems using wire-laser technology, such as those from Meltio, “trade raw throughput for fine-feature precision,” typically operating at a lower deposition baseline of 0.5 to 1 kg/hour. Moving into the broader WAAM segment, Gefertec has stated that its WAAM deposition rates typically range from 2 to 5 kg/hour. Similar to Gefertec, WAAM3D operates at a standard baseline of 3 kg/hour for typical high-quality geometries. However, its large-format RoboWAAM XP and RoboWAAM PLUS platforms have reported rates of up to 15 kg/hour. While still wire-fed, Sciaky, at the extreme upper end of the market, boasts even higher deposition rates, having demonstrated peak rates exceeding 18 kg/hour with its electron beam AM (EBAM) technology. If Rongsu’s results hold up in production, they suggest that Chinese manufacturers are beginning to