Immensa, MENA’s leading additive manufacturing and digital warehousing company, inaugurated a new facility in Saudi Arabia as part of its ambitious regional expansion plans.
His Excellency Eng. Osama bin Abdulaziz Al-Zamil, Saudi Arabia’s Vice Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, inaugurated the 1,500 square metre facility in Dammam, which is the result of a USD 15 million investment.
The facility is the first private sector industrial grade additive manufacturing centre in the Kingdom and will be a key enabler in the shift of the local manufacturing base from traditionally low value product production using conventional manufacturing to high value production.
Immensa’s new factory will enable high value parts for sectors such as oil & gas, energy, and petrochemicals to be produced on demand and locally. This will play a part in creating more agile, reliable, sustainable supply chains – particularly within hard-to-abate sectors –while saving companies costs and time. In addition, the centre will service regional markets including Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. Further, exposing Saudi engineers to the world class facility will support the upskilling of local talent.
Ali Abdulaziz Alturki, Chairman of Immensa, said: “Immensa exists to localise the production and supply of spare parts across various critical industries. This new facility marks the expansion of our efforts to onshore production to help industries reinforce and decarbonise their value chains. Additive manufacturing today is a firmly established process, and we are harnessing the power of 3D printing to support local industries, economic growth and sustainability.”
He added: “Immensa has ambitious expansion plans, which are underpinned by local talent and engineers. We will continue empowering the industrial ecosystem to ensure not only that we are a major player in this field, but also that Saudi Arabia and the wider region lead in local on-demand, advanced manufacturing.”
Managed and run by a local team of additive manufacturing experts, the new facility has various cutting-edge technologies and is supported by more than 30 specialised engineers. It features General Electric Additive 3D printers, including the region’s largest metal laser melting machine for the toolless manufacture of complex parts.
Leveraging its strategic geographical location, resources and skilled workforce, Saudi Arabia is aiming to become a global leader in additive manufacturing through producing additive manufacturing raw material, developing engineering design capabilities, and localizing additive manufacturing services.
Manufacturing is currently the third largest contributor to the Kingdom’s GDP. The country is investing heavily in Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies that increase productivity and competitiveness while reducing costs, waste, and carbon emissions.
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