Dutch Precision Manufacturer Ter Hoek Adds XJet Ceramic 3D Printing System

Ter Hoek, a precision manufacturing specialist based in Rijssen, Netherlands, has installed an XJet Carmel 1400C ceramic 3D printing system, marking the company's first move beyond its longtime specialty in high-precision metalworking. The Rijssen facility, which has built its reputation on electrical discharge machining (EDM), precision electrochemical machining (PECM), and ultra-precise CNC milling since the 1990s, is now printing technical ceramics using XJet's NanoParticle Jetting™ (NPJ) technology at 1,400 DPI resolution.

The strategic shift is deliberate and pointed. Ter Hoek's existing customer base has historically come to the company for metallic precision components; the Carmel 1400C now lets those same customers source ceramic parts from the same engineering and production environment, without switching suppliers or rebuilding process context. According to the company, the system covers both prototyping and the transfer to small and series production, with a largely automated workflow and what Ter Hoek describes as "no media discontinuity" when moving from internal development to production runs.

Gerrit Ter Hoek, Founder and Technical Director, framed the acquisition as something larger than a material addition. "In the future of manufacturing, sustained success will hinge on continuous differentiation and innovation in an increasingly competitive landscape," he said. "With our solid expertise in precision manufacturing, we have constantly sought the next opportunity to better serve our customers. By entering the world of technical ceramics with XJet's digital production platform, we're not just adding a new material — we're embracing a fundamentally new way of manufacturing that offers unprecedented design freedom, faster iteration cycles, and the ability to produce parts that were simply impossible before. This positions us at the forefront of the next generation of precision manufacturing."

The Carmel 1400C's NPJ process jets nanoparticle-laden droplets at 1,400 DPI, producing what the company describes as geometrically complex ceramic components with exceptional accuracy and superior surface quality. The system's fully automated digital workflow is designed to reduce process steps compared to conventional ceramics manufacturing routes, a practical consideration for customers in aerospace, semiconductor, and medical technology sectors where iteration speed and part complexity both matter.

Ter Hoek also cited the workflow's internal coherence as a differentiator. The ability to iterate ceramic designs in-house and transition smoothly to serial production under one roof, while maintaining the precision tolerances their metalworking customers already expect, is central to how the company is positioning the new capability.

XJet and Ter Hoek will demonstrate the technology publicly at Ceramitec 2026 in Munich, where they are exhibiting together at booth 206 in Hall A6. For the ceramics and advanced manufacturing communities attending that show, the Rijssen installation represents one of the more concrete examples of NPJ technology landing inside a production-oriented European precision shop rather than a research or prototyping environment.