Nikon has inaugurated its 922 square-metre Nikon Additive Manufacturing (AM) Technology Center in Japan. Located in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, Nikon states that the newly established AM Technology Center will assist the firm in its aim to 'transform manufacturing by leveraging and expanding the industrial foundation with advanced solutions from Nikon.'

This comes after the opening of a comparable facility in Long Beach, California, last July.

Similar to its California site, the Japanese facility will unite the Nikon AM portfolio and consolidate a varied, specialized team. It will feature an NXG XII 600 laser powder bed fusion system by Nikon SLM Solutions, which uses 12 lasers and allows users to print components up to 1.5m in size, in addition to Nikon's directed energy deposition systems, including the Lasermeister LM300A, and CT systems like the XT H320 scanner. Nikon anticipates that this capability will improve its service for clients and partners in the defense, space, and aviation industries. According to the company, the DED capability will be utilized for repair and maintenance purposes.

Nikon has notably intensified its involvement in the additive manufacturing industry recently, by acquiring SLM Solutions and Morf3D, introducing a DED portfolio of machines, and investing in Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies.

One of the primary reasons for establishing the AM Technology Center in Japan was to carry out research and development on 'state-of-the-art' metal AM technologies, as well as offering metal AM and DfAM design services, such as suggestions for enhancing and fixing metal molds and prototypes, to clients in Japan and Asia.