The Most Dangerous Ranking in the AM Industry
The Atomic Layers: S7E10 (00188)
Atomic Layer of the Day:
This morning (Central European Time), I published my weekly newsletter on LinkedIn: "The AM Margin Masters Explained"—a detailed description of the project I introduced last week, in which we plan to evaluate and reward profitable companies in the AM industry.
A few likes, a handful of comments, and fewer than 2,000 views. Not even half of what my other articles in this series typically achieve.
So, it went exactly as I expected.
Because yesterday, while writing it and developing the algorithms for evaluating companies' profitability, I realized just how dangerous our initiative is.
The AM Margin Masters strike at the industry's biggest secret—it intend to reveal who is actually making money and how much!
Just as a quick reminder:
The idea for this ranking was born two weeks ago during a conversation with Paul Carlson, Chief Commercial Officer at AMT PostPro.
AMT, a company that produces post-processing systems for 3D prints made with SLS and MJF technologies, prides itself on being profitable—something it claims is rare in the 3D printing market.
And during my conversation with Paul, I realized that this way of evaluating companies is quite logical and makes sense. It would allow smaller but healthy companies to compete openly with larger but bloated organizations that are just a year or two away from spectacular collapse.
Last week, I published a teaser of the project, and today, the full breakdown—including the mathematical formulas I intend to use to calculate profitability and the badge designs for awarding companies.
I even created a submission form where companies can nominate themselves.
So far, only one company has applied. And, well… I know them personally.
In fact, I know at least 5-6 others that definitely qualify for platinum badges. But I don't know if they'll decide to participate. Because, as I mentioned before, I realized yesterday just how awkward, uncomfortable, and problematic my proposal is…
Right now, the entire AM industry is built on assumptions.
Let me explain…
With the exception of publicly traded companies, which are required to disclose their financial results quarterly, all other companies keep their finances deeply secret. In Europe, there’s at least a legal requirement to publish annual financial reports in local government offices. These reports can then be obtained—sometimes for free, sometimes for a small fee. But in places like the USA, Canada, Israel—not to mention China—hehe… forget it.
Financial results in the AM industry are as covert as the Third Secret of Fatima.
So, since we don’t know, we assume. We assume that Company A is doing well and Company B not so much.
We assume that Formlabs is a well-managed, successful company. The same with Carbon (probably?) or Seurat (maybe…?). We assume that Creality, Anycubic, and Bambu Lab make money selling their super-cheap 3D printers. We think that Roboze, SPEE3D, or Meltio generate high enough revenues to not only function well but also to keep developing their products.
But the truth is… nobody really knows. Sure, with Roboze and Meltio, you could dig into their reports (though it’s not easy for a foreigner, and you’d have to pay for it). But for companies from other continents? Forget it.
And do you remember last year when Dávid Lakatos, CPO of Formlabs, declared that 50% of all SLS printers sold worldwide had a Formlabs sticker on them—and everyone just believed him?
We believed it because we've gotten used to assuming. We decided to assume that Lakatos was telling the truth—because we assume that Formlabs is doing great. Because we have no way of verifying it.
Meanwhile, The AM Margin Masters wants to change that. No, actually—it wants to blow up the entire established order!
Some guy from Poland came up with the idea of publishing companies' financial results. And evaluating them. With an algorithm, for fuck’s sake!
Because if I actually manage to pull this off—if I actually start publishing this data—the world will find out who is really making money. How much revenue they are really generating.
Right now, without financial transparency, everyone is living in a comfortable illusion.
Sure, once in a while, someone stumbles, falls, and never gets back up—but that’s part of the plan. Besides, everything is hidden behind a nice façade. The bad smell is covered with perfume. The bad complexion is covered with makeup. There’s no need to change anything.
So, two things to wrap up:
I still believe I’ll succeed. That after the first 2-3 publications, this will gain momentum. That more companies will want to change the status quo.
But if I fail… I’ll do it anyway. Just differently. I simply won’t ask for permission.
Atomic Layer from the Past:
02-10-2022: Authentise acquired Elements, the provider of the self-serve workflow tools for manufacturing.
News & Gossip:
Formlabs just announced that is expanding support for education with special pricing. Educators, students, and researchers can now get 10% off printer packages and free access to Open Material Mode (OMM).
SimplyPrint has launched an open beta for Bambu Lab printer integration, enabling independent operation from Bambu's cloud. Users can manage prints via a dedicated client on Windows, Mac, Linux, or Raspberry Pi. The platform supports LAN mode, intelligent filament tracking, and multi-printer control. Free for two printers; paid plans available.
Spengler unveiled SurfPro SD steam dyeing machines for MJF and SLS parts, reducing water and dye usage. The system ensures consistent coloration with 90% less water and 95% less dye than immersion methods.