North Vancouver is currently witnessing a significant upsurge in one of the most transformative fields of production technology: additive manufacturing. Here in the heart of Western Canada, where traditional industries have long dominated, the waves of 3D printing and advanced material processing are not just lapping at the shores—they’re reshaping the landscape.
At our facility, we harness advanced technologies like HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) for short-run production, bridging the gap between prototyping and large-scale manufacturing. This isn’t about crafting trinkets or prototypes that are good for a look and nothing more. We’re making real parts for real applications. Before you scale to injection molding, which is an investment in itself, MJF allows you to verify designs, refine functionality, and ensure that your product can hold its own in the market.
We also run Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) printers that work with a variety of materials including PLA, PLA-CF, PETG, ASA, ABS, and TPU. Each material offers unique properties—whether it’s the lightweight strength of carbon-fiber infused PLA or the durability of ABS, suitable for functional parts that need to withstand more demanding conditions. The choice of material depends on the product requirements and operational challenges it’s expected to meet in real-world applications.
Our operations are not confined to 3D printing. We are fully equipped with scanning technologies that enable reverse engineering—turning existing physical parts into precise digital models from which improvements and adaptations can be made swiftly. This capability allows local industries to innovate without starting from scratch, transforming existing solutions into optimized products with a fraction of the lead time and cost traditionally involved.
The impact on local industries in Vancouver and across Western Canada is profound. From aerospace to automotive, and from construction to consumer goods, the ability to develop and iterate products quickly and efficiently translates into competitive advantages in a demanding market. This is about more than innovation—it’s about the practical side of making things better, faster, and more cost-effective.
Take a simple example from the automotive sector in Vancouver. A critical part of a vehicle might fail quality tests during a pre-production check. In a conventional setup, tweaking the design and creating new molds for injection molding would take weeks and cost a considerable sum. With additive manufacturing, we can redesign the part, print it, test it, and tweak it as needed in days, not weeks. By the time full-scale production rolls around, the part is perfected without blowing timelines or budgets.
This approach doesn’t just lower barriers—it knocks them down. It paves the way for startups and established companies alike to bring better products to the market quicker. And in a world where the pace of change only accelerates, keeping up means staying equipped. With the power of additive manufacturing and advanced 3D design and scanning, right here in North Vancouver, we’re laying the groundwork for a future where our local industries don’t just participate but lead in the global market.
