Norsk Titanium AS (NTi), a Norway-based leader in manufacturing premium quality titanium components for industrial applications, announced today that RTI International Metals, Inc. RTI, +0.00% a global supplier of titanium and specialty metal products and services, has become a strategic investor and minority partner with the company. RTI made an investment of an undisclosed amount for strategic cooperation projects surrounding NTi’s game-changing 3D printing technology, known as Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) technology, used in NTi’s patented process for the manufacture of premium quality titanium components.
“This investment is an important endorsement of the hard work and achievements of the NTi team, who are poised to accelerate the market reach of our company’s game-changing technology for the production of titanium components, delivering to our customers the benefits of reduced price, shorter lead times, and increased design flexibility,” said Executive Chairman of NTi’s Board of Directors John Andersen, Jr.
“RTI is pleased to be a strategic industrial investor in NTi. Its DMD technology, a form of additive manufacturing or 3D printing, is a game-changer,” said Dawne Hickton, Vice Chair, President and CEO of RTI. “Combining NTi’s innovative technology with RTI’s upstream raw materials and downstream fabrication capabilities has significant applications in the titanium closed-die forging market, with commercialization opportunities within the next 12 months.”
Vice Chairman of NTi’s Board of Directors Christopher E. Kubasik, who also is President and CEO of New York-based Seabury Advisory Group and a former Lockheed Martin Corporation executive, added, “NTi has entered into an incredibly exciting time as we gain this strategically important investment. We anticipate further initiatives in the near-term which will position NTi as the unquestionable global leader in advanced industrial applications for titanium components serving the fast-growing needs of such industries as aerospace & defense (A&D), oil & gas, and marine.“
NTi has achieved technology readiness level six (TRL6), which demonstrates its ability to meet stringent A&D material requirements. NTi expects to achieve technology readiness level eight (TRL8) by the fourth quarter of this year. The A&D industry is the largest and most demanding segment for titanium components. In addition, oil & gas, automotive and other industries require high quality, complex titanium components.
