A catalyst for defense manufacturing

Nikon is a company recognized in the United States mostly for cameras, but Nikon Advanced Manufacturing Inc. is looking to change that recognition in the defense industry after opening the Nikon AM Technology Center in Long Beach, California, adding former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and retired Navy Admiral Mike Mullen to the leadership team as a strategic advisor, and rebranding Morf3D Inc. into Nikon AM Synergy Inc. Hamid Zarringhalam, CEO of Nikon Advanced Manufacturing, knows there are gaps currently in the United States’ current defense industrial base, but the company wants to be the catalyst for defense customers to design and build parts using additive manufacturing (AM) for their applications to close those gaps.

Showcasing its technology

The journey begins at Nikon AM’s new 90,000ft2 Technology Center, a facility where it provides Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) services, engineering and manufacturing solutions, and prototyping and production capabilities from Nikon Advanced Manufacturing, Nikon AM Synergy, Nikon Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Solutions, Research and Development, and other assets.

“When a customer comes in, depending on where you are in your journey, at the beginning, you have a problem you want to solve, you can have access to SLM’s latest and greatest technology,” says Zarringhalam. “If you have a problem the SLM technology doesn’t address, but you think direct energy deposition might, you can go there. If your journey has gone above that and now you want to design for manufacturing, you want to see if the parts work, you want to produce some, that’s the Nikon AM Synergy side. All of this is in one location.”

The Technology Center is home to the rebranded Nikon AM Synergy which was fully acquired by Nikon as Morf3D in July 2023. Morf3D had previously been a contract manufacturer but with the facelift, Nikon AM Synergy will now focus on being a catalyst for acceleration and adoption of metal additive manufacturing, particularly in defense using the SLM platform. They’ll help defense customers understand and implement laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) technology and directed energy deposition (DED) solutions.

Adding knowledge at the top

Adm. Mullen joins Nikon Advanced Manufacturing as a strategic advisor after a decorated 43-year military career, and now that knowledge is helping lead the company through the defense manufacturing industry.

“My background is in semiconductors, and most of the people in my company, we’ve been deeply involved in various leading-edge technologies, but defense is a completely different world,” Zarringhalam says. “Here is a very complex set of things, how to navigate it, how to get in, so I wanted to bring expertise, to give advice, and are we going in the right direction? What strategy should we pursue? Are we on the right path? What else should we be thinking? It’s a great pleasure, an honor, to have a man with a pedigree and incredible years of service to be an advisor.”

So now that Nikon Advanced Manufacturing has a new facility, Adm. Mullen’s guidance, and a new vision for Nikon AM Synergy, the company believes it’s ready to expand the use of AM in the defense industry. Zarringhalam says currently, only 2.5% of parts that can be produced from AM are actually using the method for production.

“The industrial base is severely challenged, whether you’re looking at building hypersonics, whether that’s in the submarine industrial base, whether that’s in defense aircraft, particularly on land defense aircraft, all of these are challenged,” Zarringhalam says. “All of these can be helped by additive manufacturing.”

Early results

Nikon Advanced Manufacturing’s increased focus on defense manufacturing began about a year-and-a-half ago and the company has now been profitable the past two quarters, while showing a 15% increase in revenue last quarter, and a backlog of $60 million. However, the company still wants to improve its output in the defense market and has invested 22% of sales back into research and development as it looks to further the adoption of AM. Zarringhalam knows the defense industrial base will continue to grow, so he hopes customers are open to implementing AM so Nikon Advanced Manufacturing can continue to grow from its solid foundation.

“We have a very long-term perspective, when we talk to defense customers, we’re building products that aren’t going to come to the market in scale until 5-to-10 years from now,” Zarringhalam says.

About the author Jake Kauffman is managing editor for GIE Media’s Manufacturing Group and can be reached at JKauffman@gie.net.

Nikon Advanced Manufacturing Inc. https://www.nikon.com