From family workshop to series production – with 3D printing for efficient scaling

From family workshop to series production – how 3D printing helps Qvantum's factory in Nyíregyháza.This article was originally published by Admasys Hungary

With Swedish roots, Qvantum (based in Nyíregyháza), has decades of experience in the heat pump market. The company started as a family workshop and gradually grew into an international player. Qvantum was the company that was able to build heat pumps for all special cases where standard manufacturer products were not sufficient.

A few years ago, they started their large-scale European expansion, an important pillar of which is the capacity of their new production plant in Nyíregyháza. Taking over the former Electrolux plant in 2024 , they inherited not only the modern infrastructure but also local expertise: most of the people from the former team joined Qvantum. Building on their extensive experience in series production, their task now is to transition Qvantum's residential heat pumps into true mass production.

Qvantum's product development takes place in Sweden, while the design is examined in Nyíregyháza from the perspective of optimization for series production, so the final product may still take shape here. Since the fall of 2024, the domestic factory has been preparing for mass production of QA+QH residential air-to-water heat pump indoor units. Low-scale production has already started, and the QG model, which will be the company's smallest heat pump to date, is also planned to be introduced in the near future. Series production would not have been possible so quickly without 3D printers.

UltiMaker S5, S7, S6 – in that order

The design and development of the manufacturing processes is carried out by process engineer Ákos Dobrosi and his team. Three of them work with 3D printing in the engineering department. Ákos Dobrosi, Péter Halász, and Zoltán Máté Csák are assisted in their work by four process technicians. Two of them graduated as mechatronics engineers from the University of Debrecen, where they had already encountered additive manufacturing, so it was natural for them to apply the technology in their work. According to them, such a rapid start of low-scale production in Nyíregyháza would not have been possible without in-house 3D printers. , 3D-printed parts have been part of the entire manufacturing process at Qvantum from the very beginning.

"We started using 3D printing in the very first steps of designing the new production line, and the response was very good. We received positive feedback from the operators, quality assurance, and everyone else," says Ákos.

The team received their first UltiMaker S5 from Electrolux, but while its potential was underutilized there, it has become an indispensable tool at Qvantum. The S5 produced without any problems for six years before it needed servicing for the first time. As Ákos put it: "If you need it to run continuously and be able to operate 24/7 with minimal maintenance, then I definitely recommend UltiMaker 3D printers"

While Electrolux was less intensive in its use of 3D printers, Qvantum began using additive manufacturing on a daily basis. Due to the workload, a new machine was soon needed, so following on from their previous positive experiences, a UltiMaker S7 Pro Bundle arrived in February 2025, followed by a brand new, lightning-fast UltiMaker S6 was tested in the summer.

In addition to the positive results, brand loyalty was also justified by the fact that UltiMaker 3D printers have industrial certifications to certify the safety of unattended operation (Declaration of Safe Unattended Professional Use). As a result, UltiMaker 3D printers can be covered by corporate insurance that also covers any accidents that may occur during unattended operation. This could not be provided by the alternative brands that were considered.

Fast solutions, load-bearing materials, and tangible returns

The economic benefits of in-house 3D printing capacity are by no means negligible. From this perspective, one of the team's most successful projects was a technological positioning jig that can withstand loads of up to 2.5 tons. They received a very high quote from an external supplier for aluminum, while 3D printing on existing UltiMakers cost no more than a tenth of that.

"The investment in the UltiMaker S7 Pro Bundle paid off immediately with just these ten positioning jigs," says Péter.

The biggest advantage of the latest UltiMaker S6 3D printer is its increased productivity compared to previous printers. For example, a broken template threatened to shut down the production line, but with the UltiMaker S6, they were able to replace it in an hour and a half.

"If we need something quickly, we can produce it in a matter of seconds."

At Qvantum, ABS is currently the most common material used, but Tough PLA has also proven to be effective. TPU is also used, mainly for flexible inserts, although printing it has been more difficult at first. Moving the 3D printers to an air-conditioned room in the summer helped to achieve reliable results.

The engineers also experimented with composite materials: UltiMaker Nylon CF Slide and PET CF proved successful for certain positioning, sliding, and support elements. But for now, their priority is volume printing rather than the introduction of new, potentially more durable materials: in the future, as series production ramps up, the time may come for additive manufacturing of more wear-resistant, stronger composite tools.

"There is no workstation here where we cannot encounter 3D-printed elements," says Ákos.

Thanks to the many prints, they have now developed a digital model library, which they would like to make officially storable in the future. The UltiMaker Digital Factory system also helps them with teamwork and the registration and systematization of 3D models. According to their plans, in the future, every template, jig, or positioner will be easily identifiable and reproducible.

Summary

Qvantum's plant in Nyíregyháza is a living example of how 3D printing can become an indispensable technology in supporting mass production. The reliability of UltiMaker machines, fast response times, and cost savings have enabled the company to quickly and cost-effectively move toward mass production at a completely new site.

ADMASYS HU is a leading Hungarian-based specialist in professional 3D printing and 3D scanning — and as the official “Premier Reseller” of UltiMaker in Hungary, it serves as UltiMaker’s local reseller, system integrator and service partner.