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3D Printing News Briefs, August 30, 2020: Roboze, BCN3D & CREA3D, 3D Systems, ASTM International

We’re covering 3D printing business stories in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, including investments, partnerships, industry executives, and annual reports. Federico Faggin, who invented the microprocessor, is investing in Roboze, and BCN3D is partnering with CREA3D. 3D Systems has named its new CFO. Finally, ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence has released its second annual report.

Microprocessor Inventor Invests in Roboze

(Image courtesy of The Federico and Elvia Faggin Foundation)

Italian-American 3D printer manufacturer Roboze has announced that physicist Federico Faggin, the inventor of the microprocessor and co-inventor of both the touchpad and touchscreen, is investing in the company, which designs and produces industrial 3D printers for the production of functional thermoplastic and carbon fiber reinforced parts. Additionally, the prolific inventor will be joining the company’s Advisory Board as a technological consultant. Born in Italy but a naturalized US citizen, Faggin has helped shape modern computer science and won multiple international awards for his efforts, including the United States of America’s National Medal of Technology and Innovation. As a member of the Roboze Advisory Board, he will help the company as it works to increase the development of additive manufacturing solutions.

“A few years ago I met Alessio Lorusso and I recognized in him an exceptional foresight and remarkable creative and organizational skills. With great enthusiasm, I therefore accepted his offer to be part of the ROBOZE Advisory Board,” Eng. Faggin said. “I am proud to see an Italian company that knows how to compete in the global economy with cutting-edge products in such a demanding sector and I am pleased to make my experience available so that ROBOZE can grow as it deserves.”

BCN3D and CREA3D Announce Distribution Partnership

Speaking of Italy, Barcelona-based BCN3D Technologies has announced a distribution agreement with Italian 3D printer distributor CREA3D in order to increase growth in Italy’s 3D printing market. CREA3D has been providing professional 3D printing solutions through both B2B and B2C channels since 2013, and has created a strong online and offline presence for itself. Now, professionals in Italy will benefit from CREA’s distribution of BCN3D’s 3D printer portfolio, made up of the desktop BCN3D Sigma and Sigmax and the professional BCN3D Epsilon system, all of which offer a higher volume of printing per piece due to the company’s Independent Dual Extruder (IDEX) technology.

“We are pleased to cooperate with CREA3D, an alliance which will support us in increasing the sales in the Italian market, where there is a high potential for the IDEX system and the distinctive duplication, mirror and multi material printing modes,” BCN3D’s CEO Xavier Martínez Faneca said. “Their considerable experience in additive manufacturing, combined with a top-quality technical know-how makes CREA3D the right fit to help us grow and serve Italian customers in the best possible way.”

3D Systems Appoints New Chief Financial Officer

3D Systems has announced that Jagtar Narula, the current SVP of Corporate Strategy and Business Development for Blackbaud Corporation, will be joining the company as its Executive Vice President and CFO. Beginning September 14th, Narula, who has nearly 30 years of progressive financial, business leadership, and investment strategy experience under his belt, will report to Dr. Jeffrey Graves, the company’s President and CEO. He will lead the Finance organization for 3D Systems, which includes all investor relations, finance operations, and capital deployment for growth and margin expansion.

“I am excited to have a leader of Jagtar’s experience join our team at such an important time for our company. Jagtar’s experience in leading technology companies with complex transformations and large-scale efficiency improvements will be invaluable as we transition to our new focus, align our organization and cost structure to our current revenues, and position ourselves for sustained growth and profitability in the years ahead,” stated Dr. Graves. “I want to add a special note of thanks to Wayne Pensky for serving as our Interim CFO, allowing us to move quickly to restructure the business and prepare for an exciting future ahead.  Wayne will support Jagtar to ensure a smooth transition in Finance leadership for the company.”

ASTM International’s AM CoE Issues Second Annual Report

ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE), which was launched in 2018, has just debuted its second annual report. In addition to offering a look at future plans, the report also includes many of the AM CoE’s accomplishments over the past year, such as the creation of an international conference, in-kind investments, new additive manufacturing staff, the new AM guide for supporting COVID-19 supply chains, a technical workshop series, the development of certificate courses, and more.

“Together, the AM CoE and its partners supported the advancement of AM technology through investments in new R&D projects, existing infrastructures, development of new educational offerings/partnerships, expansion of the AM team, and the growth of the center’s global footprint. The hard work and dedication of the center’s team are highlighted in this comprehensive report,” said Mohsen Seifi, PhD, ASTM International’s Director of Global Additive Manufacturing Programs.

Seifi also said that the AM CoE has “emphasized its commitment” to speeding up usage and capabilities of evolving technologies, like additive manufacturing, and empowering innovation in manufacturing.

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Metal Additive Market Reset. How Leading Metal AM Firms Will Weather the Economic Storm

First quarter 2020 market data continues to become available from the world’s leading additive manufacturing companies, shedding more light on how the economic fallout from the global pandemic is impacting the AM industry. Although interest in additive manufacturing has surged as a result of the supply chain interruptions, and some companies believe big opportunities are out there, most agree with SmarTech that it’s going to be a bumpy ride for the remainder of the year for metal additive companies.

Throughout 2019, the industry was already struggling as the pool of customers ready to scale up metal AM operations proved too small to support the relatively large number of suppliers who were lured in the market over the last few years hoping the impending boom in AM that never came.  This combined with the current economic woes creating a round of industry consolidation. In 2016, GE shook up the industry by acquiring Concept Laser and Arcam out of identifying long term opportunities for metal AM.  This may have been the start of something big.

Supply Chain Interruptions put Polymer 3D Printing Technologies Back on the Map, but What About Metals?

During the early stages of the pandemic in the United States, a number of primarily polymer 3D printing solutions were able to be put to use to provide a stopgap for production of a variety of critical parts. Metal technologies also were leveraged, but the applications for metals were longer term projects, such as development of advanced respirator filters, medical facility components made in antimicrobial metals, and other parts. As a result, the COVID crisis has done quite a bit to put polymer 3D printing technologies back into the media spotlight and demonstrate their use as a production tool under various circumstances.  But where do metals find themselves in a post-COVID market?

Source: SmarTech Analysis Metal Additive Manufacturing Advisory Service.

The chart above highlights the “best case” scenario for Q1 2020 metal additive manufacturing market opportunities for hardware and materials based on the most current data SmarTech had at the time of writing this article.

  • Compared to 2019, metal AM hardware revenues declined 14 percent. However, by the time final data is collected for the quarter, it is likely that declines of 20 percent will be seen market-wide for metals.
  • Meanwhile, metal powder sales were not as heavily affected during Q1 but are much more likely to be impacted during Q2.

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Stratasys Lays off 10 Percent of Workers

Stratasys, the marketplace leader in industrial fused deposition modeling technology, has announced that it is laying off 10 percent of its workers worldwide. In a statement, the company seemed to suggest that this workforce reduction was not necessarily related to COVID-19, but that the pandemic caused the plan to be implemented sooner:

“This resizing, advanced sooner due to the impact of COVID-19, will affect approximately 10% of employees, and is designed to reduce operating expenses as part of a cost realignment program to focus on profitable growth. The company expects the vast majority of the reduction to take place in the second quarter and to complete the reduction during the third quarter of this year.”

Since the 3D printing stock market bubble burst in 2014, publicly traded additive manufacturing companies have struggled to regain their footing. At 3D Systems, former CEO Avi Reichental stepped down and was replaced by Vyomesh Joshi who, after seemingly putting the firm back on track, has also stepped down.

Stratasys CEO Yoav Zeif.

Stratasys and its MakerBot subsidiary have cycled through executive leadership much more rapidly, executing multiple rounds layoffs at MakerBot. Stratasys CEO David Reis was replaced by Ilan Levin in 2016, who resigned in 2018. Now, Yoav Zeif acts as Chief Executive Officer. Of the layoffs, Zeif said:

“This reduction in force is a difficult but essential step in our ongoing strategic process, designed to better position the company for sustainable and profitable growth. I would like to express my appreciation to each of the employees impacted by this decision for their dedicated service. Current conditions make the job market even more challenging, and we have done our best to provide the departing employees globally with a respectable and fair separation. This measure is not expected to affect the progress on our forthcoming product launch plans, which remain a top priority as we lead the industry to new heights with our best-in-class additive manufacturing solutions.”

Stratasys revenues declined 14 percent in Q1 compared to last year. The company believes that, by eliminating labor, it can reduce operating expenses by $30 million, though it will pay out $6 million in severance costs. The 3D printing company is hardly the only one in the industry or in industry at large suffering economically at the moment. Numerous AM firms have reported lowered revenues due to the COVID pandemic.

The recently released Stratasys J55 3D printer.

While layoffs have come to be par for the course during economic downturns, it is not a prerequisite to the survival of a business, though that may depend on the size of the firm. Stratasys is much smaller than the $13B Mondragon Co-Operative Corporation, which avoids displacing workers by relocating them from one area of the business to another. In turn, the company able to weather the 2008 financial crisis. In 2013, Mondragon’s largest manufacturing company went bankrupt. Instead of instituting layoffs, the employee-owners voted to take small pay cuts and relocated 2,000 workers across the larger business group.

The workforce reduction comes at a time when the U.S. is facing a 20 percent unemployment rate, which is potentially adding fuel to the wave of protests against police violence the country is experiencing. Given the current economic situation, it will not be surprising if we see other 3D printing companies execute similar decisions in the near future.

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