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3D Printing Industry Review of the Year: December 2019

Concluding 2019, December saw Stratasys appoint a new CEO after over a year of searching and Lulzbot also announces its move to North Dakota. Furthermore, additive manufacturing advances in the transport and lighting sectors and trends are observed  following Formnext 2019.

Stratasys appoints a new CEO, Lulzbot moves to North Dakota

Leading 3D printer OEM Stratasys appointed Yoav Zeif as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective February 18, 2020. The company’s current interim CEO Elchanan Jaglom will continue in his role as Chairman.

Zeif previously acted as President of the Americas Division, Head of Product Offering and Chief Commercial Officer at Netafim, a global micro-irrigation company. This position was held for five years. Before this, Zeif was Senior Vice President of Products and Marketing at Adama, a global crop-protection company. Last year, Zeif also became a partner in the New York office of McKinsey & Company.

Yoav Zeif, the new CEO of Stratasys. Photo via Israelagri.
Yoav Zeif, the new CEO of Stratasys. Photo via Israelagri.

In October 2019, rumors that Aleph Objects, the parent company of well-known desktop 3D printer brand Lulzbot, surfaced following a number of staff redundancies. A month later, the company completed a deal securing its acquisition by Fargo Additive Manufacturing Equipment 3D (FAME 3D).

In December, it was announced that Aleph Objects and the Lulzbot brand will be relocating to Fargo, North Dakota. Moreover, FAME 3D has set out its intentions to hire 50 new members of staff as soon as possible to get the new offices up and running.

Additive manufacturing developments in industrial sectors

In Troy, New York, the Lighting Research Center (LRC) and American multinational power management company Eaton Corporation, partnered to develop a fully 3D printed LED-integrated luminaire. This project, funded by the United States Department of Energy, aims to overcome the barriers for the adoption of additive manufacturing technology applied to solid-state lighting (SSL).

Moreover, New Mexico’s Optomec reached what it is calling a “major milestone” for its Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) direct energy deposition (DED) process. Accommodating the popular heat exchanger market as well as other high-conductivity applications, the company developed process parameters for the production of pure copper parts.

Mobility goes Additive (MGA), a German-based network accelerating 3D printing within transport, also announced that it had obtained first-time approval for use of an additively manufactured brake suspension link for trains. It is a highly-loaded part and works within the brake unit of a train and is now in use at Hamburger Hochbahn.

Carpenter Technology, a metal alloy manufacturer based in Pennsylvania, established a new additive manufacturing facility known as the Emerging Technology Center (ETC), in Athens, Alabama.

The Emerging Technology Center (ETC), in Athens, Alabama. Photo via Carpenter Technology.
The Emerging Technology Center (ETC), in Athens, Alabama. Photo via Carpenter Technology.

Formnext 2019

3D Printing Industry spoke with experts, including Sascha F. Wenzler, Vice President, Formnext, on the trends following the trade fair. Wenzler stated, “Since we have been able to organize Formnext as the central trade fair for the global AM industry, we have experienced a very high level of dynamism in the industrial applications related to AM and, especially in the last two years, strong growth in the areas of materials and pre- and post-processing.”

DMG MORI, a leading machine tool manufacturer, presented a new hybrid additive manufacturing system, named the LASERTEC 125, at Formnext 2019. Elsewhere, XYZprinting, a Taiwanese 3D printer manufacturer, launched its latest DLP system known as the PartPro120 xP which was debuted at Formnext 2019.

The DMG MORI LASERTEC 125 3D hybrid system at Formnext 2019. Photo by Beau Jackson
The DMG MORI LASERTEC 125 3D hybrid system at Formnext 2019. Photo by Beau Jackson

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Featured image shows the Emerging Technology Center (ETC), in Athens, Alabama. Photo via Carpenter Technology.