In 2000, Matsuura took part in a regional joint research program in Fukui prefecture to promote the development of laser-based materials manufacturing technology. Through the research carried out during this project, Matsuura developed the world’s first hybrid metal 3D printer in 2002: the M-PHOTON 25Y, which was able to reduce mold making times to one third of the usual cycle by using a laser. The M-PHOTON 25Y was the first innovative hybrid metal 3D printer capable of performing powder sintering and high speed milling on a single machine to create molds with just one process. The second generation LUMEX-25C was developed and released in 2004. This machine was equipped with a high-power CO2 laser (500W) and sintering time was reduced by 40%. In 2006 the 3rd and 4th generations of the LUMEX Avance-25 were developed, equipped with 200WYb and 400WYb fiber lasers respectively. In 2016, the much larger LUMEX Avance-60 was developed with a max part size of 600x600x500mm. Moving forward, Matsuura strives to continue the development of revolutionary new manufacturing processes through the use of hybrid metal 3D printing.