ASX-listed Aurora Labs began five years ago with the goal of disrupting the $4 trillion global metals manufacturing market.

The company was the brainchild of David Budge, who has been inventing since he was five. He said, his ‘light bulb’ moment happened when he moved into heavy engineering 15 years ago and was looking at a half-tonne pump body worth $250,000. “I remember thinking there had to be about $500 of raw materials in it, so if you could print it, there are probably some margins there,” he said.

Mr Budge eventually acted on that idea and invited some friends he was building small rocket engines with to join his 3D printing startup. Six years later, after heavy research and development, and some delays, Aurora has designed and built the world’s fastest commercially available 3D metal printer; the Rapid Manufacturing Printer 1.

The RMP-1 can print up to 350kg of material a day, a rate analysts estimate is between five and 30 times faster than the quickest printers currently on the market and a 2000 per cent jump in speed compared to Aurora''s previous printer model.

Eventually, Mr Budge wants to be able to print a tonne a day – about the weight of a Toyota Corolla.

Traditional 3D printing involves lasers melting a layer of metal powder over and over until an object is formed. It means complex parts that are hard and expensive to traditionally manufacture could potentially cost less to print than a solid block of metal.

Aurora''s magic comes from the RMP-1’s ability to print multiple layers at the same time, which dramatically increases printing speed without sacrificing quality.