Velo3D opens Forge 1 Metal AM production campus
Velo3D, headquartered in Fremont, California, USA, has officially opened its new Forge 1 production campus in Livermore, California. The new facility has been established to increase the company’s production capacity and support growing demand for domestic manufacturing capability in the United States. It is intended to help customers transition qualified applications into production.
Velo3D’s facility at its HQ in Fremont will continue to serve as the company’s centre for research and development, applications engineering, process development, customer collaboration and qualification activities.
The company marked the opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 15 attended by Livermore Mayor John Marchand, Alameda County Supervisor David Haubert, California Senator Jerry McNerney, Alameda County Assessor Phong La, company executives, customers, employees and community partners. Attendees also received a recorded message from Lt Gen (Ret) HR McMaster, former US National Security Advisor, in an effort to highlight the importance of strengthening US manufacturing capability.
According to Velo3D, Forge 1 has been designed to support the production of mission-critical components for sectors including aerospace, defence and energy. The company stated that the facility will enable qualified applications to move into repeatable production while supporting more resilient domestic supply chains.
The new campus includes approximately 25,000 m² of production space and has been designed to accommodate more than forty large-format metal Additive Manufacturing machines, with capacity to expand to more than one hundred machines. Combined with the Fremont site, Velo3D expects to operate up to 125 AM machines.
The facility supports machine assembly, production-scale Additive Manufacturing, post-processing, inspection, quality assurance and customer acceptance. According to the company, this enables both Additive Manufacturing systems and qualified production parts to be produced at the same site, reducing lead times and supporting production-scale manufacturing.
Velo3D stated that the expansion reflects increasing demand for trusted domestic manufacturing capability as governments and industry place greater emphasis on resilient supply chains and production readiness.
Arun Jeldi, Chief Executive Officer of Velo3D, stated, “Forge 1 is much more than a new production facility. It represents our commitment to helping customers and our nation build a stronger, more resilient manufacturing foundation. Our customers need more than innovative technology. They need a trusted American partner capable of taking critical programmes from qualification to production while strengthening supply chains and supporting national security.”
Livermore Mayor John Marchand commented, “Livermore is proud to welcome Velo3D and celebrate the opening of Forge 1. This new production campus reflects the kind of bold investment that continues to shape Livermore as a destination for advanced industry.”
Forge 1 will begin operations in phases as systems are installed and qualified, with production capacity increasing over time. According to the company, the combined Fremont and Livermore facilities will provide an integrated manufacturing platform intended to support wider adoption of Additive Manufacturing across aerospace, defence, energy and other strategic industries.
