Wintermans himself takes the helm of 3D metal-printing company
Shareholder Jonas Wintermans is personally taking over the leadership of Additive Industries. The Eindhoven-based manufacturer of 3D metal printers announced vrijdag that it is developing a new model for much larger volumes.
3 mei 2021
Wintermans is becoming the successor of Daan Kersten as top executive, who suddenly left the company in June. Together the pair in 2012 were at the basis of the development of the revolutionary fully automatic metal printer. Kersten took on the role of top executive, with Wintermans fading into the background.
Parts volume increased fivefold
He now takes the helm himself in a crucial phase for the company. In the meantime competitors are active and Addiditive Industries must try to maintain its leading position. It announced an important step yesterday with the development of a new model of metal-printing system. That could quintuple the maximum size of parts to be printed. Instead of 42x42x40 centimeter it could be scaled up to 60x60x100 centimeter. The company expects to be able to present its new flagship eind 2021.
,,The larger volume opens doors for customers to more applications and higher productivity", states Wintermans in a written statement. Such a printer for heavier jobs places high demands. According to the company, the machine will have to be 'maximally robust' to be able to do its work for several consecutive days.
For airplanes and Formula 1
Customers of Additive Industries include, among others, aircraft manufacturer Airbus and car groups BMW and Volkswagen. An unnamed American aerospace company and Formula 1 team Alfa Romeo Racing are also clients. The Wintermans family has been a shareholder since the company's founding. After the departure of CEO Kersten, the family, under the banner of investment firm Highlands Beheer, took over his shareholding. Apart from a small stake held by staff, the family has since been the sole owner. Highlands Beheer is, according to its own statement, investing €28 million in Additive Industries this year.
Highlands Beheer owns, in addition to Additive Industries, two other technology companies, NTS (systems for high‑tech machine construction) and ATD Machinery (machines for the cigar industry). The Wintermans family was also the owner of cigar manufacturer Agio until 2019.