ABCorp 3D was established in 2020, but the parent company, which originated under the name American Banknote Company, started out in 1795 as “the first official engraver of the U.S.Mint.” All these years later, ABCorp continues to draw on its unique experience in financial security solutions by manufacturing payment cards, while also serving a growing customer base in the additive manufacturing (AM) services market.In fact, per the website for the Boston-based firm, “ABCorp 3D is the largest HP Multi-Jet Fusion (MJF) facility on the East Coast.” ABCorp 3D will now leverage this key AM services foothold to open a 60,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility in Columbia, Tennessee, located in the Nashville metro area.
According to ABCorp, the site’s location is an intentional strategic choice based on considerations including the significance of both Nashville and Memphis as hubs for medical device production, as well as the ability to provide “one-day domestic ground shipping to 80 percent of the continental [U.S.]” from the facility.Notably, ABCorp points to drones and robotics as two market segments the company will now be better-equipped to target, thanks to the additional capacity the expansion represents.HP’s MJF technology supports one of the AM market’s most optimal ecosystems for drone production, from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs).
Last year, HP and Firestorm Labs announced a strategic partnership to integrate HP MJF 3D printers into Firestorm’s xCell deployable factories.UUV made with HP MJF printers.Image courtesy of HP In a press release about ABCorp 3D’s opening of a 60,000 square foot advanced manufacturing facility in Tennessee, the company’s VP of 3D Solutions, Neil Glazebrook, said, “We started ABCorp 3D with a few machines and the belief that we could deliver something different in the additive market.
Today, we celebrate two full-scale sites, a broad materials portfolio, and customer partnerships that have been with us since the beginning.Those relationships, combined with the capabilities of this new facility and a highly secure environment, are what set us apart.We are just getting started.” The VP & Global Head of Sales and Business Development, HP Additive Manufacturing Solutions, said, “ABCorp’s continued investment in HP [MJF] technology reflects how [AM] is driving production efficiency at scale.
As a long-standing HP partner, ABCorp 3D is leveraging the industry’s most productive 3D printing solution to deliver exceptional cost-per-part, speed, and design flexibility, helping customers transform advanced manufacturing, accelerate innovation, and strengthen supply chains.” Orthotics 3D printed by ABCorp.Image courtesy of ABCorp All of the factors involved in this expansion synergize nicely with each other in the current AM business environment, giving ABCorp a realistic opportunity to make the most of its investment.To begin, since the AM industry has arrived at its cybersecurity moment, as DEFEND3D founder Barrett Veldsman argued to me in an interview published at the end of 2025, a company like ABCorp with over two centuries of experience in prioritizing security now has more value for potential customers than ever before.
Further, as 3DPrint.com’s Joris Peels recently explained, the FCC’s ban on new foreign-made drones should be a huge boon for the 3D printing industry.ABCorp’s direct experience in the market, and its familiarity with the HP MJF ecosystem, will give the company a key advantage in its efforts to capture that growth opportunity.At the same time, I think ABCorp is right to emphasize production for the medical device market as being just as important a focus area as drones and robotics.
Medical devices will always be one of the best overall fits for the AM industry, and there are few locales better suited than Tennessee for companies aiming to capitalize on the demand for medical products.Thus, the timing, the geography, and the product-market fits all complement each other to result in a capital investment that has an unusually high chance of success for both ABCorp and HP.If ABCorp can execute on its plans, then the company will have established a formula that it can ultimately use as a model for additional expansion.
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