Essentium signs distribution agreement with South Korea’s Hephzibah

3D printing company Essentium, Inc. has announced a distribution partnership with Hephzibah, a South Korea-based 3D printing specialist. Going forward, Hephzibah will provide Essentium’s High Speed Extrusion (HSE) 3D printing technology to customers in South Korea, as well as service and customer support.

“The South Korea manufacturing industry – from automotive to consumer electronics and, more recently, aerospace – has a best-in-world reputation for quality and innovation,” saidBlake Teipel, Ph.D., CEO and Co-founder of Essentium. “The integration of industrial-scale AM onto the factory floors of this manufacturing powerhouse has hugely exciting potential. I have no doubt that the combination of the Essentium 3D Printing Platform with Hephzibah’s rich customer knowledge and service infrastructure will ensure AM makes its mark in South Korea.”

Hephzibah aims to offer it customers AM solutions that will drive the implementation of AM for large-scale production. Essentium’s open AM technology, which is capable of producing strong polymer parts at rapid rates, is highly scalable and is reportedly capable of competing with conventional production techniques like injection molding. This capability will help South Korean manufacturers to further adopt AM and integrate it as a key production process in their factory floors.

Joseph M.G. Lee, President and CEO of Hephzibah, said of the partnership: “The speed, scale and economics of the Essentium HSE 3D Printing Platform present huge efficiencies and improved time-to-market opportunities for our customers. The fact that Essentium is an open platform means that our customers will benefit from greater innovation agility.”

Through the distribution agreement, Hephzibah will add Essentium’s complete HSE 180•S Series to its portfolio, including the low temperature, standard and high temperature models. These systems are capable of producing engineering-grade parts at rates 5-15 times faster and 5 times more accurate than conventional FFF systems. To round out its customer offering, Hephzibah will also distribute a range of Essentium materials, as well as extensive planning, installation, training and support services. Hephzibah customers will also have access to a 3D printing facility and training center for 3D printing application development.

The agreement marks Essentium’s continued growth. Earlier this year, the company signed a distribution agreement with GoPrint3D, which is reselling its HSE 3D printing technology across the UK and Ireland.