GE snaring two 3-D printing companies
WASHINGTON – General Electric is continuing its push into the digital realm, spending $1.4 billion to acquire two European 3-D printing companies.
At the same time, it’s upping its old-school manufacturing capabilities with technology that will allow it to quickly punch out industrial components, for airlines or anything else, to satisfy any client’s whim.
The Fairfield, Conn., company said Tuesday it expects the acquisition of Arcam AB and SLM Solutions Group AB to boost revenue within its 3-D printing business to $1 billion by 2020.
GE has shed most of its financial service business to focus on its high-tech industrial operations.
In April, GE opened its 125,000 square-foot Center for Additive Technology Advancement near Imperial, Findlay Township, where it focuses on improving ways to make things better, cheaper and faster using technologies such as 3-D printing and robotics. The company is also collaborating with Carnegie Mellon University on developing more advances in additive manufacturing, particularly with the use of metals in the 3-D printing process.