DEEP Manufacturing is an additive manufacturing company specialising in metal components for oil and gas, aerospace and defence applications.
- DEEP Manufacturing is using wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) to produce large, complex and multi-material metal components significantly faster than conventional casting and forging methods.
- The company’s certified manufacturing process is helping energy operators overcome supply-chain constraints, reduce lead times and support the replacement of critical legacy infrastructure.
- Growing demand from the energy, defence and government sectors has accelerated DEEP Manufacturing’s US expansion, as structural shortages in traditional manufacturing capacity drive wider adoption of additive manufacturing.
What problems did you set out to solve when you established DEEP Manufacturing?
We are part of the DEEP Group and were created to support the construction of subsea habitats. One of the main challenges was finding a material and a manufacturing process to produce them quickly, as with traditional methods the designs would have taken 3-4 years to build.
We began exploring whether large-scale metal components could be produced faster while allowing different materials to be incorporated into the same build. In 2023, we came across wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), which uses as feedstock a 1.2-millimetre wire that can be produced from a range of source metals.
We invested in the technology in 2024. Our first product was a pressure vessel for human occupation – essentially a non-motorised submarine cylinder designed to operate at depths of 200 metres. It was built as a recovery module for one of DEEP’s subsea habitats.
Certification was fundamental from the beginning. DNV approves the feedstock, the manufacturing process and the finished component separately. We are the only organisation globally with DNV certification for additively manufactured pressure vessels for human occupation and hull structures. We have therefore demonstrated that a novel manufacturing process can produce depth-rated components, independently verified to a defined standard.
Where in the energy sector can WAAM technology deliver the most value?
Energy currently represents around 40% of our business. Alongside oil and gas, we are seeing opportunities in renewables, where complex robotic components are now being integrated into conventionally fabricated structures such as wind turbine monopiles.
The strongest fit for WAAM is large-scale, low-volume, design-complex or multi-material components. In oil and gas, the conventional alternatives are generally cast or forged parts. Roughly one-third of cast components fail on quality because they are made by pouring molten metal into a mould, and the quality can only be fully assessed after the part has set. Our robots build layer by layer and scan each layer as it is deposited, providing greater certainty of the outcome and lower failure rates.
We are in early-stage production of blowout preventer valves and pipe interconnectors, working with IOCs and OEMs around Houston, although we cannot release their names. Bespoke components are particularly attractive because we can move rapidly from a design to production. Our lead times are roughly a third of those for cast or forged parts.
Legacy infrastructure is another major opportunity. Owners may need to replace equipment installed decades ago, without access to the original component or its manufacturer, and WAAM can reproduce an individual part quickly. When thousands of identical parts are needed, casting is appropriate; WAAM shines when what’s needed are small volumes of complex elements or parts made from various materials.
We are currently producing a component that traditionally has a lead time of 44 months in just 17 weeks. Manufacturing speed is also valuable for rig repairs, as downtime can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per day.
The technology also enables mild steel and materials such as Inconel to be integrated directly into builds. Since that eliminates production stages, the comparison with other methods should be based on total ownership cost, not unit price.
You have a new facility in Houston. Why did you decide to launch it earlier than planned?
The facility was brought forward by almost a year because demand from government contracting, military and defence customers and the oil and gas sector was stronger than we had modelled.
Houston offers two decisive advantages. The first is supply chains. WAAM components require post-processing because the layer-by-layer build does not create a perfectly smooth surface, so machining and heat treatment are often required, and Houston has an excellent supporting ecosystem.
The second advantage is labour. Houston has an exceptionally strong technical base following decades of oil and gas activity. The US market also allowed us to recruit rapidly. We took possession of the facility in September 2025, began leadership recruitment at the end of the year and completed technician and shop-floor recruitment by the end of February 2026.
The robots operate continuously, with roughly two technicians on each shift. Engineering teams assess the drawings submitted by customers, help optimise the design for additive manufacturing and convert them into the toolpaths executed by the robots. We launched with five robots and are bringing in another three.
Including engineering, commercial and support functions, the operation will have just shy of 30 employees by end-2026, bringing our total global headcount to almost 100.
Are there structural factors driving the growth of additive manufacturing and WAAM?
Although the underlying technology was patented in the 1920s, WAAM is a new industrial application. Oil and gas companies generally prefer to be fast followers rather than first adopters, but that is beginning to change, particularly among more innovative operators.
The wider US supply-chain environment is also creating urgency. There were roughly 200 foundries in the country a decade ago, and now there are fewer than 50. Much of that remaining capacity is being absorbed by defence and manufacturing.
WAAM addresses that constraint while reducing manual intervention. Qualified welders are extremely expensive, so automating part of the welding process improves efficiency and lowers costs. Our differentiation is therefore not technology alone. It combines certification, speed, large-scale production, multi-material capability and a response to a structural shortage in conventional manufacturing capacity.