Norsk Titanium and Hittech Group Sign Cooperation Agreement

The two companies will support the European semiconductor market and other precision industries with high-quality 3D-printed titanium components.

OSLO, NORWAY — February 3, 2015 — Norsk Titanium (“NTi”) and Hittech Group have signed a cooperation agreement as part of extending their strategic partnership. Together, the two companies will support the European semiconductor market and other precision industries with high quality 3D printed titanium components.

Under the agreement, NTi will manufacture large scale near-net-shape titanium components based on its novel 3D-printing technology, and Hittech will offer product development expertise and advanced machining. Through the cooperation, NTi will also gain access to Hittech’s existing customer base within semiconductor.

Another key objective of the cooperation is to optimize interfaces between product development, additive manufacturing, and finished machining. Substantial cost reduction potential can be achieved by viewing individual steps in a wider context; knowledge sharing will therefore be essential.

“The additive manufacturing (3D-printing) technology developed by NTi contributes strongly to the manufacturing technology portfolio currently applied within Hittech Group,” says Marco Verloop, Hittech Group Director Projects. “NTi’s technology provides us with opportunity to apply additive manufacturing for large size and high-volume titanium parts in an effective manner, ultimately leading to sustainable cost reductions, shorter lead times, and design flexibility,” Mr. Verloop continues

“With Hittech’s strong position within the semiconductor industry, we believe that together we can achieve efficient industry acceptance of NTi’s innovative manufacturing technology and provide important end customer value,” says Kathrine K. Ryengen, Vice President of Business Development at NTi. “We are also very enthusiastic about seeing demand for our manufacturing capabilities outside the aerospace industry,” she concludes.

For more information, please contact:

NTi – Kathrine K. Ryengen, VP Business Development, +47 994 18 696
Hittech Group – Marco Verloop, Group Director Projects, +31 646 112 757

About Norsk Titanium AS

Norsk Titanium is a global leader in metal 3D printing, innovating the future of metal manufacturing by enabling a paradigm shift to a clean and sustainable manufacturing process. With its proprietary Rapid Plasma Deposition^® (RPD^®) technology and 700 MT of production capacity, Norsk Titanium offers cost-efficient 3D printing of value-added metal parts to a large addressable market. RPD^® technology uses significantly less raw material, energy, and time than traditional energy-intensive forming methods, presenting customers with an opportunity to better manage input costs, logistics, and environmental impact. RPD^® printed parts are already flying on commercial aircraft, and Norsk Titanium has gained significant traction with large defense and industrial customers

About Hittech Group

BV Hittech Group is a group of centrally controlled independent companies, operating as a system supplier. With 600 employees a turnover of more than 100 Million Euro is yearly realized.

Hittech Group, centrally managed from the head office in The Netherlands, operates as a partner for high-end precision industries and medical OEM companies, providing life time management for their products and systems. Production sites in The Netherlands, Germany and Malaysia are specialized in development, engineering, manufacturing, assembly and services.

The separate companies within Hittech Group create the flexibility of an independent enterprise, while the Group generates powerful synergy operating as a collective.

Hittech Group is focused on continuous improvement in areas of design, quality, cost and processes. That’s why our partners consider us “Masters in improvement”.

For more information, please visit www.hittech.com