3D Systems to Accelerate High Volume Additive Manufacturing with Acquisition of dp polar GmbH

• dp polar’s unique, industrial-scale rotating build platform enables continuous, high-speed 3D printing of components across multiple processes for industrial & healthcare production applications
  
• Integration with 3D Systems’ broad portfolio of polymer materials and production-focused software systems will enable rapid adoption of dp polar technology into a wide range of high-speed, automated production environments

ROCK HILL, S.C., Aug. 08, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, 3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced that it has entered an agreement to acquire dp polar GmbH, the German-based designer and manufacturer of the industry’s first additive manufacturing system designed for true high-speed mass production of customized components. Central to dp polar’s patented continuous printing process is a large-scale, segmented, rotating print platform that eliminates the start/stop operations of virtually all additive manufacturing platforms. Traditional printers operate on a Cartesian Coordinate system in which the print head moves sequentially from point to point throughout component production. With dp polar’s technology and patented polar coordinate control, the print heads remain stationary above the rotating platform, providing a continuous print process. This approach not only dramatically speeds component production but also minimizes wear and vibration associated with traditional print head motion. With this modular approach, the rotating platform can be mated with a variety of printing technologies and can even accommodate pick-and-place robotic systems that can embed electronics or other features into the body of the component as it is printed. With this acquisition, 3D Systems will leverage its industry-leading polymer materials portfolio as well as Oqton’s software technology to bring true high-speed, mass production additive manufacturing to a breadth of industries including aerospace, automotive, foundries, consumer goods, and healthcare.

“This acquisition is the next step in executing on our investment strategy to provide our customers with an industry-leading additive manufacturing solutions portfolio to address their critical applications challenges,” said Dr. Jeffrey Graves, president and CEO, 3D Systems. “dp polar has designed a very unique system that provides true high-volume production. The ability to print a broad range of materials, alongside the printer’s modular design that enables multiple processes in one high-speed platform not only increases productivity by orders of magnitude but also reduces the total cost of ownership. Particularly impressive is the level of machine intelligence embedded in the platform’s operating system, which enables continuous operation across the large, rotating print platform. This unique capability is central to the exceptional throughput, economics, and versatility of dp polar’s 3D printing system. By combining our renowned polymer materials portfolio with this first-to-market high-speed production technology, I believe we’ll affect a monumental shift in production workflows for high-value applications in industrial and healthcare markets.”

The printing process designed by dp polar allows for simultaneous application of different materials to precisely define the desired performance properties in components – such as elasticity, hardness, temperature resistance, or coloring – with high precision. The high-speed additive manufacturing solution can integrate pre-processing, production, and post-processing elements, and seamlessly connects with ERP systems. This enables end-to-end traceability and quality assurance which is vital for applications in highly regulated markets such as aerospace and healthcare.

“As the founder of dp polar GmbH, I am very excited about the unique opportunity to work with a leading provider of highly professional 3D printing systems,” said Hans Mathea, CEO, CTO and founder, dp polar GmbH. “The synergy that results from the combination of our two companies is particularly valuable: the mass production solutions meet a range of industrially mature AM materials. With additive manufacturing, the industry is now getting the chance for real mass production for the first time.”

3D Systems expects this transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2022. The company will comment further on this growth investment in its upcoming earnings call, scheduled for Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time. For more information, please visit the company’s website.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this release that are not statements of historical or current facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from historical results or from any future results or projections expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In many cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "may," "will," "estimates," "intends," "anticipates" or "plans" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are based upon management’s beliefs, assumptions, and current expectations and may include comments as to the company’s beliefs and expectations as to future events and trends affecting its business and are necessarily subject to uncertainties, many of which are outside the control of the company. The factors described under the headings "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the company’s periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as other factors, could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected or predicted in forward-looking statements. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not, and should not be relied upon as a guarantee of future performance or results, nor will they necessarily prove to be accurate indications of the times at which such performance or results will be achieved. The forward-looking statements included are made only as of the date of the statement. 3D Systems and dp polar undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements made by management or on its behalf, whether as a result of future developments, subsequent events or circumstances or otherwise, except as required by law.

About 3D Systems
More than 35 years ago, 3D Systems brought the innovation of 3D printing to the manufacturing industry. Today, as the leading additive manufacturing solutions partner, we bring innovation, performance, and reliability to every interaction - empowering our customers to create products and business models never before possible. Thanks to our unique offering of hardware, software, materials, and services, each application-specific solution is powered by the expertise of our application engineers who collaborate with customers to transform how they deliver their products and services. 3D Systems’ solutions address a variety of advanced applications in healthcare and industrial markets such as medical and dental, aerospace & defense, automotive, and durable goods. More information on the company is available at www.3dsystems.com.

About dp polar
Founded in 2014, dp polar is a dynamic, rapidly growing, technology-oriented company based closed to Karlsruhe/Germany. We design, develop and deliver 3D printing systems for additive mass manufacturing for industrial and healthcare applications. Using our patented High-Speed Rotative AM Process (HSR), we achieve unprecedented industrial AM productivity. We offer a comprehensive solution to automate and productively integrate additive manufacturing into the validatable end-to-end overall process. The complete documentation guarantees continuous traceability. Track-and-trace coding ensures the finished print object is forgery-proof at highest quality standard. Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. More information on the company is available at www.dppolar.de.

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