Let me tell you a joke...
The Atomic Layers: S7E6 (00184)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
Regular readers may remember that this time last year, I was still on a voluntary exile from the AM industry. From January 2023 to May 2024, I tried my hand at a completely different business—interior finishing and home decor.
I described my experiences from this dark period of my life in a very well-received article published on New Year's Eve 2024:
But today, I want to talk about something else—the similarities between the operations of many AM companies and the Soviet style of doing business.
In 2023, I was involved in the stretch ceiling market. It’s a very popular interior finishing system in France (where it was invented) and also in Eastern Europe. In Russia, for example, stretch ceilings are an absolute standard (much like a carpet hanging on the wall).
In Poland, this industry was developing quite well, but after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, it came to a halt. It stopped because many manufacturing and contracting companies moved from Ukraine and Belarus to Poland and started doing business in an Eastern—Soviet—way.
What is Soviet business about? Offering lower prices than the competition.
Seriously, there’s no other method. I talked about this with Belarusians and Ukrainians, and with Poles who had been doing business with them for years. The only sales technique they know is promotion, discount, and price reduction.
If a product costs 100 EUR, the competition offers it for 90 EUR. Then another company lowers it to 80 EUR. And so on, until they reach, say, 25 EUR, while production costs are 50 EUR.
Then they meet, argue, drink vodka, reconcile, and agree that from now on, the minimum price is 75 EUR. No one goes lower (yes, that’s called "price-fixing," which is illegal in the West, but this is the East).
Then they get a little sober, and go home.
The next day, the first company that participated in the meeting, lowers the price to 70 EUR, “just to be safe”. And the cycle starts all over again.
The stretch ceiling market was completely devastated in this way. Polish companies and contractors couldn’t compete with Belarusian and Ukrainian production (which, in reality, was Soviet—products and components were smuggled daily despite sanctions).
Of course this is happening in every other production sector as well—food, chemicals, steel production—the list goes on.
I have a Belarusian friend who has been running a company in Poland for years—he fled his country to escape Lukashenko's regime. He once told me a joke to explain the Soviet way of doing business:
Two friends meet. One asks the other:
So, what are you up to? How’s life?
Oh, you know, I started a business.
A business? You?
Yeah.
What kind of business???
I sell sugar.
How do you mean, you sell sugar?
Simple. I buy it and sell it.
And people buy it?
Dude, they buy it like crazy!
How so?
I buy it for 10 EUR and sell it for 5 EUR.
And that’s even profitable for you?!
Man, business is booming! Sales are through the roof—I haven’t even had time to count yet…
Alright, funny story. But what does this have to do with 3D printing?
Everything. That’s exactly what most AM businesses look like.
You know, the ones based on growth. The ones where products are made, thrown onto the market, and there's no time to calculate whether it even makes sense?
That’s why businesses like Nexa3D, Desktop Metal, Zeda, Fast Radius, and the rest looked the way they did. That’s where those gigantic losses came from.
The growth was so massive that they didn’t have time to count the money. Until it ran out.
Anyway, on Monday, I published an article about this on LinkedIn. If anything, I’m still waiting for your responses…?
Atomic Layer from the Past:
02-06-2013: ExOne completed its IPO and raised $95.40 million from the stock market.
News & Gossip:
PROTEOR has acquired Filament Innovations to enhance its digital manufacturing solutions for the Orthotics & Prosthetics (O&P) industry. The acquisition strengthens PROTEOR’s portfolio, adding 3D printing capabilities. Filament Innovations’ ICARUS printer and CPX-KyronMAX filament enable rapid prosthetic socket production for the O&P sector.
Nova has acquired Sentronics Metrology GmbH for approximately $60 million in cash. Sentronics' modular metrology tools will enhance Nova's offerings in advanced wafer-level packaging and specialty devices, extending capabilities beyond 300mm silicon wafers.
Authentise has integrated Autodesk’s Fusion APIs into its Flows production management system, streamlining additive manufacturing workflows. Announced at AMS 2025, the integration offers advanced nesting, orientation, and toolpathing capabilities, marking a shift toward more modular and adaptable CAD-to-production processes.
Nice one. Reality in 3D!