Formlabs — the designer and manufacturer of 3-D printing systems that was a ‘spin-out’ of MIT in 2011 and now employs over 500 people in Boston, North Carolina, Hungary, Germany, Japan and China — is planning to open new regional headquarters in Singapore, having already opened a new warehouse in Shenzhen (China), so that it can process and ship products faster.

The growth of the company’s physical presence is coupled with the announcement of a new Asia Pacific general manager, David Tan; he joins Formlabs from Oracle.

Max Lobovsky, co-founder and CEO (www.formlabs.com), said: “Formlabs has long set its sights on making 3-D printing processes more accessible.

“The first part of this strategy has been completely rethinking 3-D printing technologies from the ground up. The second is bringing the technology to market.

"There is an immense amount of opportunity in Asia Pacific; we’re looking forward to what Mr Tan and these new locations can do to improve our growing success in the region.”

Current notable users in the region include: Creative Box from the Nissan design group, SAP, Toyota, Wacom and Phillips.