#19 The last Formnext like this?
Pawel Slusarczyk
AM-Writer.com | 3D Printing Historian | Straight Edge Analyst | AM Industry Insider
In eight days, the largest trade event in the global AM industry will take place. Or, if not the largest, then indisputably the most important. It’s the 10th anniversary of Formnext 2024 in Frankfurt. Are you going?
Formnext - Where ideas take shape replaced the Euromold trade fair in 2015, when Euromold was moved to Düsseldorf. Until then, Formnext had been the main gathering and launch venue for the additive manufacturing industry. It started modestly, with all exhibitors fitting into just one hall for the first two years. In 2017, capacity expanded to two halls, and today, the event spans four (Halls 11.0, 11.1, 12.0, and 12.1).
My first visit to the trade fair was during its second edition in 2016. My trip to Frankfurt lasted just one day — I flew in from Poland in the morning, spent the entire day visiting booths, and flew back in the evening. I managed to visit all the major booths and meet with all familiar companies from Poland and abroad. The cover photo is from my 2016 visit...
The following year (2017), there were already two halls, and we stayed for two days. Although by the second day, we were a bit bored…
Now, there are four halls, and two days certainly won’t suffice to properly visit all the booths. But I’ll be there for the full four days, from Tuesday to Friday.
If you’re interested, I’d be happy to meet and talk.
But this article isn’t about that…
Given the current climate in the AM industry, the accumulating troubles facing individual companies, financial issues, restructurings, layoffs, and forced (and sloppy) consolidations, the question is: will the organizers be able to fill four halls again next year? Or even three?
What if this is the last Formnext of this scale?
I wrote about this a bit in my Atomic Layers newsletter on Saturday. Many companies are currently experiencing serious issues, which are still being masked to some extent. In most cases, they’re laying off people — good employees who have been with their organizations for 5–6, even 8 years.
For now, this will certainly give a momentary reprieve. But reducing salary expenses won’t offset the loss in productivity. Sure, some investor-backed companies had a dramatic staffing surplus, but what’s happening now involves significant cuts to high-caliber specialists.
This will soon have serious repercussions. There won’t be enough people to develop new products, or they’ll be produced with poorer quality. Sales quality will decline, there will be delays in fulfilling current orders. There will be a shortage of consumables and spare parts. At the same time, in the case of distributors and resellers, everything will be on prepayment, and everyone will humbly wait until the order arrives. Until it stops…
I’ve seen this pattern many times before, and each time it ended with either the company’s collapse or its transformation into a “zombie” — officially alive but operationally dead. Maintained only due to investor obligations, grants, or procedural constraints (the company is too deeply in debt to declare bankruptcy).
As I wrote in Saturday’s newsletter, I have a lot of confidential information from current or former employees of truly amazing companies. It looks very bad.
In some cases, it’s as if someone set themselves on fire and started running fast, hoping that the air rushing past would extinguish the flames on their body.
It’s madness.
Even a year ago at Formnext, the atmosphere was strange. Everyone was preparing for tough times. And those have come this year with full force:
And so on… And from what I see, this isn’t the end. I don’t even know if we’re halfway through…
We’ll see how it goes this year?
Let’s see how many we’ll meet again next year, under the same banner.
So much for the introduction. And now, without further ado...
This week, I will publish several announcements about newly established partnerships.
The first one will be announced on Tuesday, and the rest in upcoming days... I'd be happy to talk to you about it on Formnext. So stay tuned...
And that’s all for now. Onward!
This week we saw a flurry of pre-trade show launches and announcements of new products to be showcased at the event, so choosing the top 7 is highly subjective. Apologies if I missed someone who you think is more important...
#7. Relativity Space joins the club of companies facing financial struggles
Bloomberg reported that Relativity Space is facing serious financial challenges. Although the company continues to pledge full commitment to its flagship project, the Terran R, these ongoing financial issues could pose a significant obstacle.
READ MORE: www.3dprint.com
#6. Anisoprint appoints Tuan TranPham as President of Americas and APAC
Tuan TRANPHAM - the most followed AM guy on LinkedIn, joined Anisoprint . Aside from his LinkedIn presence, Tuan’s CV is exceptionally rich: Z Corporation, 3D Systems, Objet, Stratasys, Arcam, Desktop Metal, Azul… and now Anisoprint. Of course, we wish him all the best and great success.
领英推荐
READ MORE: LinkedIn
#5. Formlabs debuts cheap Creator Series resins
Formlabs has launched a new resin line called the Creator Series, targeting hobbyist LCD and DLP printer users from brands other than Formlabs. This series offers affordable materials that retain Formlabs’ hallmark of high quality and safety. Creator Series resins are available on Amazon at $45 per kilogram.
The Creator Series starts with two materials: Creator Tough Resin and Creator Super Clear Resin.
READ MORE: www.voxelmatters.com
#4. AMAZEMET will present the brand new system for atomizing recycled powders
AMAZEMET , a Polish manufacturer of metal powder atomizers (machines that convert wire into powder), announced its new Powder2Powder (P2P) system. This technology uniquely enables the recycling of metallic powders and the production of custom alloy powders directly from raw materials.
READ MORE: www.3dprintingjournal.com
#3. BCN3D secured funding and unveiled new factory
BCN3D Technologies has announced new funding to boost its growth in the lightweight industry sector. This investment aligns with the opening of its advanced factory and marks the anniversary of the Omega I60 printer, widely used for large component production. The funding will drive further technological development and expand BCN3D’s product range.
READ MORE: www.voxelmatters.com
#2. Caracol launched Vipra AM integrated robotic metal 3D printing platform
Caracol AM , known for its large-format 3D printing using plastic granules, will introduce its first metal 3D printer at Formnext 2024.
READ MORE: www.3dprint.com
#1. 3D Systems introduced PSLA 270 DLP 3D printer
3D Systems has announced the comprehensive PSLA 270 3D printing solution. The PSLA 270 is a fast photopolymer 3D printer based on a projector, essentially an extended and upgraded version of the popular Figure 4. It enables the production of medium-sized parts with high mechanical properties. Alongside the PSLA 270, 3D Systems is introducing the Wash 400/Wash 400F and Cure 400 post-processing stations.
READ MORE: www.tctmagazine.com
Summary of the most important events in the history of the 3D printing industry published last week:
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Panie Pawle, zapraszamy do nas podczas targów w Frankurecie. B?dziemy w hali 12.1, stoisko E61C. ?? Wystawiamy si? tam pierwszy raz, nie mo?emy doczeka? si? obecno?ci tam. B?dzie nam mi?o, go?ci? Pana u nas.
Additive manufacturing expert for electronic devices. Sensors, heaters, antennas, circuit boards etc.
4 个月I've been attending from the first edition as a spectator or exhibitor and before also on EuroMold so in over 12 years it became a tradition for me to visit Frankfurt in November. It will be a second year I'm not in the market but still I will visit just to meet friends and stay connected. Hope we will meet there.
CEO bei Lean Plastics Technologies GmbH
4 个月As 3D printing is moving into the territory of conventional and established manufaturing methods, the companies will present themself at such events. For example we see more and more 3DP/AM at plastic processing events such as Fakuma (Friedrichshafen/Germany) or K (Düsseldorf/Germany). My feeling is that there will be a need for an event like Formnext for some more years to come, but the success of 3DP/AM might rather be shown by AM companies displaying at shows for conventional manufacturing to directly challenge those solutions.
AM * defence industry * B2B sales & marketing | Strojirenstvi.cz | Zbrojni-prumysl.cz | Additive Manufacturing Forum & more
4 个月When you see that they cancelled the previously planned US edition and now have made changes in top management, it's obvious that there's a lot of wind up there...
Meltio Country Manager Poland -??Let's 3D Print something great together?? ??GoToMarket ??TAM ??promoter ??speaker ??presenter ??innovation ??3dprinting ??newtechnologies ??additivemanufacturing ??technology ??motivation
4 个月A fair question about #Formnext2024... traditional trade fairs are slowly losing their significance... maybe a reward for hard work. For me, Formnext is a place to meet, exchange opinions and for most of the companies, often (apart from showing up) a kind of "team motivation building". It is difficult to achieve business goals if visitors have an average of 15 minutes to talk...(even with 800 lead...).. because the trade fair is so big (people jus loose focuse). I would see trade fairs in the form of virtual walks. I would also see a form where tour groups wander between the stands of "gold partners" - with presentations, Q&A section... something refreshing and more focused on exhibitors. I am waiting for Formnext because I expect more visitors (after the Covid times)... but will we see a breakthrough?... time will show...See You Pawe? ?lusarczyk, hope You will have a time to talk.