RTI Acquires Additive Manufacturer for $23 Million
PITTSBURGH -- RTI International Metals Inc., which has a plant in Niles, Ohio, has acquired Directed Manufacturing Inc. of Austin, Texas, a provider of additive manufacturing of metals and plastics for commercial production and engineering development applications, RTI announced Thursday.
RTI management expects the purchase, for $23 million cash, to enhance the ability of the company to deliver advanced, cost-effective titanium and other advanced-material solutions to its customers in aerospace, medical device and other markets.
Directed Manufacturing will do business as RTI Directed Manufacturing Inc. and becomes the flagship organization in RTI’s advanced additive product line. The company produces complex products by using titanium, nickel-chromium alloys and other specialty metals and composite plastics. The specific additive manufacturing or “3-D Printing” technologies RTI uses include direct metal laser sintering and plastic laser sintering systems.
Directed Manufacturing manufactures products that include aerospace airfoils, rakes, guide vanes and injection nozzles, complex fasteners, surgical tools, medical implants and injection mold inserts, among others. Customers include major aerospace industry prime contractors and suppliers, said Dawne S. Hickton, vice chairwoman, president and CEO of RTI, in a prepared statement. “The growth potential for additive-manufacturing solutions in RTI and Directed Manufacturing’s markets is truly exceptional. We look forward to maximizing the commercial opportunities that the new capabilities of our latest acquisition will generate, particularly on the most advanced new commercial aircraft and engine platforms, as well as medical device applications.
“We are also anxious to pursue opportunities with businesses in other market segments that are seeking the cost effectiveness of near-net-shape production that Directed Manufacturing’s 3-D Printing capability delivers,” she continued.
The acquisition builds on more than two years of RTI research, development and other participation in the field of additive manufacturing, Hickton said. These activities include working with a major commercial aerospace original-equipment manufacturer on prototype powder metal parts for advanced design aircraft. RTI is also a founding sponsor of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, a joint effort of the federal government and industry based in Youngstown, Ohio.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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