The Faber Navalis: The first application-ready solution for heavy-duty 3D-printed boat hulls

Launched at Formnext 2025 – Faber Navalis combines software, hardware and HDPro material to enable automated 3D-printed boat hull production at scale.

CEAD, a global leader in large-format composite 3D printing solutions, announced the launch of Faber Navalis, the first application-ready solution specifically designed and engineered for the automated manufacturing of heavy-duty boat hulls. The announcement took place at Formnext 2025, where CEAD showcased a 3D-printed 5.7-meter fishing boat, fully automated.

Faber Navalis: automating production of heavy-duty boat hulls

The Faber Navalis is CEAD’s solution specifically engineered for the unique requirements of commercial, industrial and defense-grade maritime operations. It is a turnkey solution where the company offers a preconfigured Flexbot set-up, a dedicated software workflow by ADAXIS and HDPro material, specifically developed material for high-impact performance and maintenance-free durability. The result is a unified production set-up, ready for reliable, automated large-scale boat hull manufacturing for heavy-duty purposes, at scale.

Dedicated software, configured hardware

Meeting the challenges of large hull geometries with integrated reinforcement for high-impact resistance, required adjustments in both software and hardware. “Achieving this level of reliability for production, requires purpose-built software, hardware, and materials, all tuned to one specific outcome. Additive manufacturing is versatile, but in some cases it needs to be engineered for the task and we have the knowledge how.” explains Lucas Janssen (CEO and co-founder CEAD).

CEAD and ADAXIS developed a dedicated software workflow in AdaOne, focused on designing and preparing printable hulls with integrated structural reinforcement. The workflow includes specialized features that allows you to add bulkheads, stringers and stiffeners.

In parallel, CEAD introduced a purpose-built hardware configuration based on its Flexbot architecture. The set-up is engineered to maximize build width required for hulls, and equipped with a new patented feature that supports fully automated printing of advanced deck shapes. The Faber Navalis also features a redesigned extruder positioning in the robot’s first axis, to support the dynamic movements and high throughput required for large, structurally reinforced hulls. Furthermore, the company introduced advanced redundancy modules and built-in quality control with CEAD data logging to improve reliability of the process during long prints that take several days.

Proven success, ready for production

The development of the Faber Navalis is the outcome of extensive R&D across the full production process. In close collaboration with industry partners, CEAD translated real operational requirements into a validated production set-up. The company has shown to be very successful with the Faber Navalis by having designed and executed several challenging boat hulls, the largest spanning a length of 12 meters, a prototype for the Dutch Navy. This project was executed in six weeks, while it normally takes them years to receive it. The company is now confident that the Faber Navalis is ready to serve as the solution to automating the manufacture of high-performance boat hulls at scale.

A new era of application-ready solutions.

CEAD calls this approach, of delivering an integrated system validated end-to-end for a specific applications, it’s ‘application-ready solutions’. As LFAM has grown, so too has the challenge for manufacturers and adopters to distinguish between what is possible in theory and what is proven in practice. Large format additive manufacturing is capable of many things, but it also comes with many variables to manage. With application-ready solutions, CEAD removes the need for customers to develop and validate the process themselves, and instead delivers a solution that creates real value from the start. This reduces uncertainties and ramp-up time, and helps customers move straight into repeatable and predictable production success.