On October 28, 2026, 3D Systems and Precision Resource, a precision stamping and additive manufacturing service provider, jointly announced that the latter has officially broken ground on two new additive manufacturing production facilities: an expansion of its Huntington Beach, California plant that will double existing industrial additive manufacturing capacity, and a new facility in Shelton, Connecticut, the company's first additive manufacturing site in that location. Both facilities are expected to begin operations in the first quarter of 2027, coinciding with Precision Resource's 80th anniversary. The new plants will deploy DMP Flex 350 Triple three-laser metal 3D printing systems and add in-house heat treatment and complex machining capabilities, creating an integrated path from printing to finished parts. Headquartered in Shelton, Connecticut, and founded in 1947, Precision Resource serves the automotive, heavy industry, medical, semiconductor, commercial, and defense markets. It already has precision blanking, grinding, lapping, laser powder bed fusion, heat treatment, and complex machining capabilities, and previously deployed an AS9100-certified DMP Flex 350 at Huntington Beach. The newly introduced three-laser system continues the same platform architecture, allowing powder parameter packages and grade-matching systems to be reused directly, reducing the time cost of process validation during the new plants' ramp-up phase. Once completed, the two facilities will form a North American metal additive manufacturing production network with existing sites, providing capacity redundancy and geographic backup for commercial and defense customers. For the metal powder supply chain, the signal sent by this expansion lies in a structural shift on the demand side: the batch deployment of three-laser LPBF equipment means powder consumption per plant will rise significantly, while stringent requirements from defense and commercial customers for batch consistency and certification documentation will push the competitive threshold for powder suppliers from "able to supply" to "able to certify." The "interconnected additive manufacturing network" mentioned by Chris Gratton, Precision Resource's director of additive and equipment operations, essentially requires powder supply to maintain stable output under the same quality system across multiple plant locations. Value for powder buyers: ① The commissioning of multiple three-laser LPBF machines will directly drive increased procurement of standard-grade powders such as Ti6Al4V, stainless steel, and nickel-based superalloys; the DMP 350 platform's powder parameter packages are mature and the grade-matching threshold is low; ② Supply chains serving defense and commercial customers have high requirements for powder batch consistency and ASTM/AMS certification documentation, so powder suppliers with certification capabilities will benefit first; ③ Watch the powder supplier certification window ahead of the first-quarter 2027 commissioning and lock in sample submission and audit schedules in advance.