€18M 3D Printing R&D Investment in Dublin

Henkel, the chemical giant based in Dublin, is to invest €18m in a new interactive and innovation centre that will focus on 3D printing. Henkel is the owner of renowned brands such as Colour Catcher, Loctite and Sellotape. This makes the company the largest manufacturer of sealants, functional coatings, and adhesives.

Henkel has a large R&D centre in Dublin that has over 400 employees. The global head of innovation at Henkel has recently stated that the company’s Tallaght site became the European hub due to its proximity to Henkel’s R&D bases as well as due to the extensive R&D knowledge that exists in the facility. The initial stage of the investment will involve 700m sq. of laboratories, meeting rooms, customer service offices, and 3D-printing facilities. However, the company has plans to expand the Dublin facility even further, to a tune of 2000m sq. so as to include 5 additional laboratories, meeting spaces and additional modern workstations. This is scheduled to be accomplished in the next 2 years.

This additive manufacturing project comes at a time when additive manufacturing is becoming the next big thing. This is because of its potential applications in areas like the health and automotive sectors. This therefore means that Ireland, and more specifically Dublin, hold the perfect opportunity to enhance their global reputation with regards to R&D. The support from IDA Ireland shows that the government is willing to collaborate with companies that have a proven track record in the development of world-class products. This illustrates the idea that Irish R&D is growing so as to meet both local and international needs in various sectors.