PRESS RELEASES
DHR Engineering Print Farm Video Draws 1M Views, Signals Growing Interest in Lights-Out Additive Manufacturing
Production demo reaches audiences far beyond the AM industry, pointing to a visibility gap around how automated manufacturing operates at scale.
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SOFIA, BULGARIA / LOS ANGELES, CA, April 9, 2026 — Industrial automation company DHR Engineering has shared a video showing its automated print farm producing 120 drone airframes in under 24 hours. The video drew more than 1M views across Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok within days — an audience far beyond the additive manufacturing industry. Drone manufacturing is drawing significant industry and public attention, but the consistent engagement with DHR's automation videos suggests the interest extends beyond any single topic: a similar video six months earlier, showing the same farm printing standard industrial parts, has surpassed 700К views.
DHR's print farm runs 44 FDM printers managed by a robotic handling system and centralized scheduling software, enabling continuous, unattended operation. The system was not built specifically for drone production; it is used daily to manufacture jigs, fixtures, and functional parts for industrial clients. The drone airframe run was conducted as a demonstration of what lights-out automation in 3D printing looks like as an operational reality — a visible, end-to-end production process.
"What surprised us wasn't the production result — we know what the system can do," said Dimitar Hristakiev, Founder and CEO of DHR Engineering. "It was the level of engagement from outside the additive manufacturing space. You can't adopt what you've never seen, and you can't pursue a career in something you didn't know existed. Visibility is how adoption starts — and that's why we want to keep making end-to-end automation in additive visible for anyone, not just niche specialists."
The public response comes as the additive manufacturing industry shifts toward higher utilization of installed capacity. According to Wohlers Report 2026, global AM revenues reached $24.2 billion in 2025, with growth increasingly driven by utilization rather than new hardware sales. Lights-out automation — the integrated robotics, software, and process engineering that turn installed 3D printers into operational production systems — is a key enabler of that shift, yet it is seldom explained in accessible terms outside specialist channels. This has reinforced DHR's ongoing effort to make automated production workflows more visible beyond the AM industry.
About DHR Engineering
DHR Engineering provides end-to-end automation solutions tailored for advanced manufacturing, including additive and CNC automation for the aerospace, metalworking, and mining industries. The company develops custom robotic systems, production software, and autonomous 3D print farm infrastructure. Based in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Los Angeles, California, DHR works with industrial clients across the U.S. and EU.
To learn more about DHR Engineering, visit dhr.is, LinkedIn, Instagram or YouTube.
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Media Contact:
Vasil Grigorov,
Head of Marketing
vasil@dhr.is