OPM Laboratory

OPM Laboratory Co., Ltd. is an integrated engineering firm for metal 3D printers. Our business has been based on metal 3D printing technology since we began R&D activities at the dawn of the metal 3D printing age, as a pioneer in the field. To develop global-standard technologies with their start in Japan, we proposed a project utilizing these technologies to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan, and in 2003 we were chosen for the strategic infrastructure technology enhancement project, under which we worked for three years with Panasonic Corporation (formerly Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) on advancement of basic technologies. Then, over two years starring in 2006 we succeeded in developing the application technologies needed for full-fledged commercialization of this technology through regional revitalization consortium project 1. Ever since our founding as a company, we have stressed not only R&D activities but also efforts to put research results to practical use, evaluate the results, and use them as feedback for future development through the Engineering Business Division established for this purpose. Through these initiatives, we have built up a wealth of data on design and manufacturing for putting metal 3D printing technologies to use in demanding mass-production workplaces, and we are using this data in our standardization efforts. Furthermore, we also have established OPM's own unique methods of optimizing the quality of articles produced through use of metal 3D printers. 3D printing technologies are recognized widely as next-generation production technologies. The American consulting firm Wohlers Associates predicts the market for 3D printing to grow to USD12.8 billion (approx. JPY1.28 trillion) in FY2018 and USD21.8 billion (approx. JPY2.18 trillion) in FY2023, and metal 3D printers are expected to account for a share of 20-30% of this market, an indication of the business's massive future potential. Under such conditions, we are actively taking on not only the domestic Japanese market but overseas markets as well as we enter an era in which metal 3D printing technologies will see use in not just prototyping but mass production of parts for use in fields such as components and dies in addition to the air and space development industries. In FY2014, we joined the group of companies led by Sodick Co., Ltd., traded on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Since then, we jointly developed and brought to market the Sodick OPM series of metal 3D printers, as we are acting as a highly globally oriented member of the group as the world's only integrated engineering services company for metal 3D printers.