After 2015, a year of strong growth and many advancements, Prodways continues its momentum in 2016 and has announced big plans for this year … Interview with Philippe Laude, CEO of Prodways Group:
Prodways announced a number of developments in 2015; can you give your retrospective of the past year?
Philippe Laude: “2015 was indeed a year of significant progress for Prodways and saw many developments: on the first of March, we started the year with the acquisition of the leading office service in France, the company Initial. This acquisition has enabled us to offer our customers a complete range of services from the realization of a single piece prototype to the design and optimization of a new part design. This also allowed us to provide back-up solutions to help companies manage their peaks of activity, which is essential in an industrial environment. We simultaneously acquired the Norge Systems company for its expertise in the field of powder sintering to develop our multi-technology approach. Then, the group announced a major fundraiser for a total amount of 25 million Euros, underlining confidence in Prodways in its ambition to become a major international player in additive manufacturing. Finally, we launched a full range of powder sintering solutions to complement our offering of MOVINGLight® with strategic partnerships with the major players in this field: Farsoon, for its expertise in powder sintering technology, Exceltec for its skills in the manufacturing of premium powders and LSS for its services across Europe. From a business perspective, Prodways also extended its influence, gaining international coverage through its subsidiary in the United States and a distribution network that now extends to Asia. The year was also marked by numerous signs of recognition including a visit from Emmanuel Macron, Minister of Economy, Industry and Digital as part of the week of Industry.”
Now, what are your ambitions for 2016?
Philippe Laude: “Even though large steps were taken in 2015, we still have good prospects for future development, and this year we will maintain our stated objective to become one of the major players in 3D printing for industrial production and concentrate our efforts to offer a real alternative to the two market leaders. Prodways has always differentiated itself with a resolutely client-oriented approach and understanding of their specific needs. Moreover, the launch of the Prodways Aerospace Division at the end of this year sums up the commitment: learn from the experience of Gorgé Group and its subsidiaries to form a center of expertise, focused on the real needs of today and for the future. Therefore, we combined the expertise of ECA, subisdiary of Groupe Gorgé, regarding the design of tooling and embedded parts, with the experience of Initial-Prodways Design & Production in the manufacture of finished parts in plastic and metal as well as with the strong knowledge of Prodways in the development of printers and materials for 3d printing. Our work mainly revolves around our desire to place the market and its needs at the center of our thinking. We truly believe that the development of new applications and new materials with yet-unexplored mechanical properties requires us to respect the freedom of our customers. Therefore, our desire is to apply an open-field strategy to enable the development of new applications still unseen to date. In this area, our recent advances in the field of ceramic printing, including the ability to 3D print with ceramic materials like zirconia, alumina or hydroxyapatite, and the signing of our partnership with CEA, prove our commitment to bringing 3D printing to a higher level of excellence.”
What upcoming events will you attend and be presenting new projects?
Philippe Laude: “In 2016, Prodways will continue to expand its powder sintering and MOVINGLight® product lines as the prospects offered by both technologies are innumerable and have the capacity to meet the needs of new market segments. We will be represented by our partners at key international events early this year, but we especially want to emphasize our presence in the US at the upcoming Rapid show, where our American team will present our latest developments and applications. Feel free to come join us!”
Customer Support
Request Sample
Contact