Making anything from machinery gears to figurines, the additive manufacturing facility run by Ultra Clean Asia Pacific (UCT), a unit of Nasdaq-listed manufacturing-solutions player Ultra Clean Holdings, is the largest commercial 3D-printing facility in Southeast Asia, and still has capacity to spare despite receiving five to 10 orders per day.

Industrial additive manufacturing is set to grow in the future of manufacturing in Singapore, thanks to the versatility, low cost and creative potential of the process, say industry players.

“Additive manufacturing is in its ‘mature pioneering stage’ here – it will only grow,” said Lavi Lev, UCT’s senior vice president for Asia.

“It has solid solutions to problems, and in some cases even solutions looking for a problem – which means I have this new technology, maybe someone can do something with it.”

Even as traditional manufacturing continues to slow in Singapore, posting its first contraction since the global financial crisis, additive manufacturing is showing signs of growth.

The government has thrown its support behind the industry, identifying it as one of the key sectors to grow back in 2013 under a “Future of Manufacturing” scheme.

Last September, Spring Singapore and the National Research Foundation announced the formation of the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster, which will help companies develop capabilities in 3D printing.

Led by National Technological University, the cluster will look at the latest research in 3D printing and study how to translate it into commercial uses in the industry.

US-based safety-solutions company Underwriters Laboratories announced last September that it had invested US$8 million (Bt278 million) to open a Global Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Singapore, which will focus on training, material and process qualification, advisory services and research in 3D printing.