Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies (PADT) is to represent Rapid Fusion in the United States after the two companies signed a reseller agreement.
Rapid Fusion is a UK-based provider of large-format extrusion 3D printing systems.
PADT will focus its efforts in the United States on the aerospace and defence markets, with the company believing there may be £2m worth of opportunities in the first year across the Western half of the country. Initially, PADT will present the Apollo, Zeus and Medusa platforms to its existing client base.
To support these efforts, the company will employ a dedicated Rapid Fusion sales specialist and, in the long term, will host several Rapid Fusion robots at its headquarters at Arizona State University Research Park in Tempe. With this set-up, PADT will take interested parties through an initial needs discovery conversation, application analysis and pilot proposal, before helping prospective customers to establish a business case ‘using jointly defined success metrics’ and ‘’actual customer data.’
“We have had significant success disrupting the large-format additive manufacturing arena in the UK and Europe and felt it was time to push into the United States – a sector that is the biggest in the world for our technology,” said Rapid Fusion Managing Director Jake Hand. “We needed to find the right partner who not only understood our values and our products but also had the immediate access to clients who would benefit from our solutions. Initial conversations with PADT founder Rey Chu got us really excited, and we’re delighted to sign the deal that makes the company our first US reseller.”
“Rapid Fusion’s pellet extrusion and robotic arm-based 3D printing systems offer a complementary and disruptive alternative to our current additive manufacturing offerings, enabling new applications in aerospace, construction, motor vehicles, and tooling,” added Chu. “With a 100,000-strong marketplace on the West coast alone, there is so much potential to disrupt the US marketplace, and we are looking forward to accelerating the UK firm’s presence here. The key will be getting the first customers on board and then we have a fantastic test case to entice more companies to adopt the technology.”
