Industrial 3D printer financing

Industrial additive manufacturing has moved from the prototype room to the production floor, and the machines that do it cost what machine tools cost. iFinancial Group finances production polymer and metal 3D printers, with the post-processing equipment and software on the same approval, on a one-page application. No tax returns and no audited financial statements to apply, no minimum and up to $1,000,000.

Who you're dealing with

iFinancial Group has funded equipment since 1997, roughly $600 million of it, in all 50 states. We're a direct lender, not a broker, so the file is underwritten in house and not shopped around. Our customers have ranged from independent manufacturers to global technology companies. We've barely advertised in almost three decades. The business came from repeat customers, referrals, and vendors sending us their customers.

What you're financing

Production polymer systems, industrial FDM, SLS and SLA machines and multi-jet fusion, typically list new from about $50,000 to $250,000. Metal additive systems, laser powder bed fusion and binder jetting, run roughly $250,000 to $1,000,000 and up. Large-format systems run higher.

Those are market ranges. The technology, the build volume, the number of lasers on a metal machine and the material options move them.

What goes on the same approval

The printer, the powder handling and recovery station, the depowdering and finishing equipment, a curing or heat treatment oven, the build plate removal saw on a metal system, and the build preparation software go on one approval. Post-processing can add a third to the price of a metal system, and it's financed with the printer.

Installation, the facility work some metal systems need, and operator training are soft costs and can ride on the same deal, on many deals up to 30% of the total.

Who buys them and how the payment gets covered

Aerospace, medical device and dental lab manufacturers, tooling and fixture shops, service bureaus, and OEMs bringing low-volume or complex parts in house. The case is usually parts that are expensive or slow to machine, or tooling and fixtures the shop was paying someone else to make.

A new additive line ramps as parts are qualified. A deferred first payment, typically up to 90 days, or step payments can match the payment to the qualification period.

New or used

The used market for industrial printers is thinner than for machine tools, and the technology moves fast, so most purchases are new. Used and refurbished polymer systems trade, and they're financeable here like any used equipment. On the financing side it's the invoice or bill of sale, the serial number and proof of what was paid.

Because the technology moves fast, the term on a printer is often set shorter than on a machine tool, so the payments end while the machine is current.

What slows a 3D printer deal down

Software and service subscriptions. Many systems are sold with an annual software or service contract, and the invoice should separate the machine from the recurring contract so the equipment is what gets financed.

A metal system above $1,000,000 is structured under a master lease. Below that line it's the same one page.

How it works with iFinancial Group

It's the same one-page application whether the equipment is small or the deal runs to $1,000,000: no tax returns and no audited financial statements to apply, no minimum and up to $1,000,000. Decisions typically come back within 24 hours, and an approval holds up to 60 days. New and used equipment, terms up to 84 months, and soft costs up to 30% so freight, setup and training can go in the same deal. Payment structures beyond level payments are there when the equipment earns unevenly. We've been doing this since 1997, in all 50 states.

Other manufacturing equipment: CNC machining center, CNC lathe, fiber laser cutting machine, press brake, injection molding machine, waterjet cutting machine, robotic welding system, forklift, packaging machinery. Or start with manufacturing equipment financing.