If you still think about HP as the company that makes the finicky inkjets in your home office, you’re missing the actual story. Honestly, it's kinda wild how they've pivoted. While most of the world was looking at hobbyist machines that print plastic Yoda heads, HP went quiet for a few years and then basically dropped a bomb on the manufacturing industry.
We’re talking about Hewlett Packard 3d printing—a division that isn't interested in your desktop. They want the factory floor.
It's been roughly a decade since they entered the space, and the landscape in 2026 looks nothing like it did in the early "hype" days. People used to say 3D printing was too slow for real production. HP took that personally. They developed a process called Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) that doesn't use lasers to draw parts. Instead, it uses an inkjet array to "paint" fusing agents onto powder, then hits it with heat. It’s fast. Like, really fast.
The "Voxel" Secret and Why It Actually Matters
You've probably heard of pixels. Well, HP works in voxels—3D pixels.
Most people think 3D printing is just stacking layers. It’s not. With MJF, HP controls the properties of each individual voxel. You want one part of a bracket to be rigid but the other end to be flexible? They can theoretically do that. This isn't just "printing"; it's digital chemistry at a microscopic scale.
Wait, what about the metal?
Everyone talks about plastic, but the real power move recently has been the HP Metal Jet S100. They aren't just melting wire; they’re using a binder jetting process. They spray a binding agent onto metal powder, "glue" it into a shape, and then bake it in a furnace. It’s how companies like John Deere and Schneider Electric are starting to look at mass-producing parts without expensive molds.
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The Surprise Move Into Filaments
Here is the thing nobody saw coming until recently. For years, HP was the "powder" company. If it wasn't a bed of powder, they didn't touch it.
But as of early 2026, they've officially stepped into the FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) market. It’s a bit of a "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" situation, but with an industrial twist. They announced the HP IF 600HT, a high-temperature filament printer. Why? Because MJF powder can't handle everything. Sometimes you need PEEK or Ultem—materials that can literally survive inside a jet engine or a chemical reactor.
The IF 600HT is modular. You can swap extruders. It’s basically HP saying they want to own the entire engineering workflow, from the cheap prototype to the high-temp engine part. And for the big stuff? The HP IF 1000 XL is slated for the second half of 2026. It’s massive.
Real World: It's Not Just Prototypes Anymore
Let’s look at some actual numbers because "innovation" is a buzzword that usually means nothing.
- General Motors: They used MJF to produce 60,000 finish seals for SUV spoilers in just five weeks. Try doing that with a traditional 3D printer. You can't.
- Sustainability: The new PA 11 Gen2 material has up to 80% powder reusability. In the old days, you’d throw half the powder away after a build. That’s a massive waste of money and plastic.
- Cost: HP is publicly targeting a 20% reduction in cost per part across their entire portfolio by the end of this year.
They’re also leaning hard into the "Additive Manufacturing Network" (AMN). It’s basically a match-making service. If you have a design but no $300,000 printer, HP connects you with a certified shop that has one. It’s decentralized manufacturing, and it’s finally starting to work.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think 3D printing is a replacement for injection molding. It’s not. Not yet, anyway.
If you need ten million plastic spoons, use a mold. But if you need 50,000 customized orthotics or a complex cooling manifold for an electric vehicle, that’s where Hewlett Packard 3d printing shines.
The biggest misconception is that these machines are "set it and forget it." They aren't. They require a full "ecosystem." You need the printer, the processing station to clean the powder, and often a cooling unit. It’s a mini-factory, not a printer.
The Metal Challenge
Binder jetting (what HP uses for metal) has a dirty little secret: shrinkage. When you put that "green" part into the furnace to burn off the glue and fuse the metal, it shrinks by about 20%.
Designing for that is hard. You have to be a bit of a math wizard to predict exactly how a complex gear will warp as it shrinks. HP has been dumping millions into software to simulate this so the part comes out right the first time. If they solve the software side, they win the metal game.
What’s Next for You?
If you’re an engineer or a business owner, stop looking at 3D printing as a way to make "toys." Start looking at it as a way to fix your supply chain.
- Audit your "Long Tail": Look at the parts you only need 500 of a year. Those are the prime candidates for MJF.
- Test the PA 11 Gen2: If you're already using MJF, switching to the newer Gen2 materials can drop your costs significantly due to that 80% reusability rate.
- Watch the Filament Space: Keep an eye on the HP IF 600HT release in the coming months. If you need metal-replacement plastics (like PEEK), this might be the first "reliable" industrial FDM machine from a major player.
- Connect with the AMN: Don’t buy a machine yet. Use the Additive Manufacturing Network to run a pilot project. See if the parts actually hold up to your stress tests before you drop six figures on hardware.
The "hype" of 3D printing died years ago. What's left is the actual work. And right now, HP is doing most of it.