Voxeljet, a Stuttgart, Germany-based company that manufactures industrial 3-D printers, will open its first U.S. location in Canton this fall, creating 15 to 20 high-tech manufacturing jobs in its first three years, company officials announced Wednesday.
The company’s decision to open a Michigan service center is largely due to its proximity to potential customers in the automobile industry and supply chain, says Ingo Ederer, Voxeljet’s CEO.
“While Voxeljet’s customers span a range of industries, the auto industry is currently the heaviest user of our 3-D printing technology,” Ederer says. “We have extensive experience serving the 3-D printing needs of European automakers and we look forward to serving manufacturers in the U.S.”
The new facility will allow Voxeljet to print on-demand parts, molds, cores, and models for automotive and other industrial customers based on designs produced using 3-D computer-aided design, or CAD, software.
The announcement comes during Gov. Rick Snyder’s weeklong investment mission to Italy and Germany.
Snyder and the Michigan delegation have also met with executives at ZF in Friedrichshafen. The automotive supplier employs more than 1,350 employees at its North American headquarters in Northville and production facilities in Marysville and Lapeer.
“Our discussions illustrate the importance of this mission and the many improvements we’ve made to Michigan’s business climate,” Snyder says. “The marketplace today is global and to stay competitive, we must be aggressive in reaching out to world-class companies and continue our push that creates more and better jobs for Michiganders.”
There are currently 350 German and 40 Italian companies that employ 72,000 workers in Michigan, according to state officials.
