Formnext 2024 Day One: Soul Chill

After closing out the Champ Bar in the Marriott last night, I was overcome with nostalgia. Nostalgia for the days when only CEOs stayed at the Marriott. Nostalgia for the time when “our industry” was just a smattering of tables off to one side of Euromold. Nostalgia for when our industry was a group of large German men teetering unsteadily, putting one foot before another, mopping sweaty brows with kerchiefs as they prepared for another pretzel-and-pint-fueled day. They toiled, yearning for the Stammtisch and the shhryt sound of Mercedes leather.

I miss when “cocktail” was a dress code, not a drink. I long for the time when aunties and uncles were eager to hear about the miracle of 3D printing. Nostalgia for when new powder companies seemed to sprout overnight, like mushrooms after rain—when it felt like anyone who could pour powder into a glass plug could snag a stand at the show. (Needless to say, most of them should have just sat on those plugs, stayed home, and saved themselves the airfare.)

I yearn for the days when things looked grim, and for the days when things felt endless.

Where are we now? 

Beautiful vapor smoothed parts at LuxYours.

This is not one of those times. We’ve been through it all and grown up too. Formnext now feels a lot like Frankfurt—there are no tourists here. No visitors in this mine. The curious are off watching YouTube videos about AI and preparing “breakthrough AI mindset” PowerPoint cornucopias of lies.

Many of the fraudsters are gone as well, no doubt spooked by our financial performance and lured back by the siren call of crypto. Even the large corporates have moved on. Big materials companies and industries have taken their digital twinning and greenwashing campaigns elsewhere.

No Tourists, Just Professionals

What we have left are professionals—people committed to the technology and in it for the long haul. Of course, not everyone will be here next year. Talent is leaving, and many bankruptcies are looming. There’s a noticeable mismatch between stand size and revenue this year, with several firms teetering on the edge of insolvency.

Job hunting has become a central activity again. Once, it was the domain of eager young graduates; now, it’s mid-career professionals recently let go or seasoned veterans brimming with experience who’ve been shunted aside. Judging by the mood, consultancy seems more promising than landing a full-time position.

Capex is low, and the machine manufacturers are generally struggling. It’s not like it used to be; a rising tide no longer lifts all boats. Financial performance among competitors is diverging sharply. While some are doing extremely well, others are barely hanging on. Meanwhile, the Champ Bar still makes more money than most 3D printing companies, and many startups are surviving on fumes.

 Progress?

Some things never change. There’s no internet. I need to find the Opal Room, and no one can tell me where it is. I spent 35 minutes trying to figure out the opening times on the Formnext site. Now we have an app that doesn’t tell us anything either. Progress. If you ever find a headless man in the Messe, he’s probably an Interaction Designer working for Formnext—and I found him first.

Frankfurt, of course, is horrible. If I lived here, I’d consider hard drugs too, just to escape without going near the station. The desire to self-medicate is strong in this Dementor-ridden city. I’ve only been here a day, and I already feel like biting my gloves more than Tyson does. Other places have wind chill; Frankfurt has soul chill. Here, even finance bros actually need their body warmers. I heard Uwe Boll does the city planning. Frankfurt is like *Robocop*, but we don’t even get the robots.

Still, seeing everyone is heartwarming. Our little cottage industry has grown up. We can print everything—except profits.

Changes 

There’s a noticeable increase in Chinese companies, this year. They must love the sky here—it’s so much like home. Chinese firms are once again more professional and substantive, moving much faster than their Western counterparts. Across the board, the Chinese Additive Manufacturing industry seems increasingly self-sufficient, relying on the West only for a few key pieces of software.

Bambu Lab continues to steamroll forward, while Formlabs has expanded its materials offering—a move that should have shaken the industry to its core. Yet, no one seems to have noticed. Few realize that Formlabs and Bambu are positioning themselves to dominate their space.

On the industrial side, there’s a noticeable decline in large and medium-format material extrusion systems. Instead, small producers are carving out niches, creating specialized machines in nearly every segment. This year has also brought some substantive new releases: EOS has unveiled a new P3 system, and Nano Dimension has introduced a micro printer for electronics.

Above all, there is gradual, useful progress. Quintus has introduced a large-format HIP for the Long Beach crowd, and Additive Industries has sold multiple machines to a single customer, SWISSto12. While there’s some integration news, it’s less prominent than before. Still, Continuum has qualified powders for the Renishaw RenAM 500, and Equispheres is collaborating with 3D Systems, highlighting the viability of the recycled and locally made powder market.

Some developments are gaining traction—FKM, for instance, has purchased a voxeljet high speed sintering system. While the cost advantages of this technology should drive faster adoption, progress is happening steadily nonetheless. There are also unusual alliances emerging, such as Dubai-based Leap71 teaming up with EPlus3D. Could this signal a non-US pathway to complex geometries that traditionally required US firms?

There’s plenty of business model experimentation as well. UpNano launching its NanoPro 3D printing service is particularly exciting—it should significantly accelerate the adoption of their technology.

A Material World

Materials are becoming increasingly functional and application-specific. Many of the new releases are tailored to precise uses and specific parts. There’s growing interest in combining machines and materials to tackle new challenges, though too much attention is being funneled into the semiconductor market—a herd of lemmings following the noise, oblivious to the cliff ahead.

That said, I’m encouraged to see real-world parts taking center stage in casting, sporting goods, medical, space, RF, and industrial applications. It’s refreshing to see practical innovations like helmets, silicone molds, and aerospace molds, instead of the usual Geiger-style sci-fi concepts. Machines are now being purpose-built for particular applications, with increased focus on industries like oil and gas, shipping, rail, and space.

Application-driven thinking is permeating the industry, with firms jockeying for position in targeted sectors. There are also substantive improvements across the board—machines, software, and materials are being optimized for real manufacturing needs, signaling meaningful progress.

Defense, Defense!

A 3D Systems Titan mold tool.

Defense is at the forefront right now. The biggest shift from last year is that while defense was merely a consideration then, now it’s a central focus for everyone. Drones are massive, and suppressors are gaining even more attention.

As for the fastest-growing application in 3D printing? I’d argue it’s suppressors. The first market report on silencers from Scott Dunham, Executive Vice President of AM Research, back in 2017 was spot on, and his recent analysis confirms it. 3D-printed suppressors outperform traditional ones by balancing key characteristics more effectively, reducing noise and thermal signature, and offering profitability. These relatively compact items are driving demand at service bureaus and pushing machine sales. It’s easy to imagine a future where almost every modern soldier carries a 3D-printed suppressor. In the U.S., consumer demand for them is growing too.

This is a far cry from the “3D print a better planet” ideals many had in the early days. But the machine has never cared what it prints—that’s the point, isn’t it? We can (almost) make any geometry. It’s about time we seriously considered what that capability truly means.