Materialise, a global leader in 3D printing solutions, has acquired
an option to buy Link3D Inc., an additive workflow and
manufacturing execution systems (MES) company. The acquisition will
extend Materialise’s ability to help companies gain control of
their manufacturing floor as they scale up their additive
manufacturing (AM) capability into volume production. In addition,
the acquisition will allow Materialise to accelerate its roadmap to
offer cloud-based access to its integrated software platform. It
also is expected to broaden Materialise’s industrial customer base
across North America, Europe and Asia Pacific, and offer Link3D
customers a seamless connection to Materialise’s Magics 3D print
suite.
“By joining forces with Link3D, we expect to be even better
positioned to provide our customers with a solution to plan, manage
and optimize their AM operations”, said Fried Vancraen, CEO of
Materialise. “This agreement exploits the synergy between the two
companies and will help us to remove some of the complexity
associated with scaling 3D printing as part of a connected,
industrial manufacturing process.”
Link3D offers additive MES workflow software to help companies
scale their digital manufacturing operations across complex supply
chains and IT environments. Its MES and workflow solutions help
bolster overall adoption of AM for series production in major
manufacturing industries, including aerospace, automotive,
consumer, medical and energy.
Streamlining Additive Manufacturing Workflows
3D printing continues to transform the factory floor as
companies increasingly turn to 3D printing for large-scale
production. However, as these companies scale their 3D printing
processes and integrate these operations with existing production
infrastructures, they are confronted with increasingly diverse,
complex and distributed manufacturing environments. Materialise and
Link3D each offer MES-solutions that help these organizations gain
control over their manufacturing floor. The synergy between the two
companies will allow Materialise to help customers scale their AM
capability across complex supply chains with greater operational
excellence.
“At Link3D, it has always been our mission to help companies
unlock the full potential of AM into their existing supply chains”,
Link3D CEO Shane Fox said. “By teaming up with Materialise, a
global pioneer of the 3D printing industry, we expect to be able to
offer our combined user base access to a robust and comprehensive
manufacturing suite of solutions, enabling them to take Additive
Manufacturing to the next level", Link3D Co-Founder and CTO Vishal
Singh said.
Software Platform Strategy
The potential acquisition is also expected to accelerate
Materialise’s platform strategy to offer companies cloud-based
access to its unified software platform. While some companies had
already begun their digitization journey before the pandemic hit,
COVID-19 has accelerated this process and emphasized the benefits
of pursuing digital transformation opportunities.
Materialise has outlined an ambitious roadmap to evolve its
entire software suite to a SaaS model, offering its customers
cloud-based access to a complete platform of software tools to
manage and control the 3D printing process more efficiently. This
cloud-based software platform will provide customers across
multiple industries, from aerospace and automotive to point-of-care
3D printing, seamless and efficient access to Materialise’s
complete and integrated 3D printing software suite. This platform
will also allow customers to benefit from the latest software
innovations and enable them to scale their operations based on
their current needs.
“Materialise and Link3D share a commitment to support companies
as they build cost-efficient and productive 3D printing factories”,
said Stefaan Motte, VP and General Manager of Materialise Software.
“We expect that joining forces with Link3D’s talented team will
help us to advance our roadmap to offer customers more flexible and
reliable access to a cloud-based, unified software
platform.”
Materialise has recently announced several cloud-based software
solutions, including Magics Storefont, a full e-commerce and CRM
solution in one platform; and the Process Tuner, an intuitive
online platform that helps speed up the process tuning that is
required for mass-manufacturing 3D printed parts.
Link3D provides a suite of mission-critical applications for
customers in the aerospace, automotive, medical and other
competitive and highly regulated industries. These customers are
expected to benefit from seamless access to Materialise’s Magics 3D
print suite for AM part preparation, automation and production
optimization, but also broad 3D printer connectivity and automated
workflows.
Link3D will continue to be managed by its existing management
team. Materialise expects to exercise the option before the end of
the year.
Photos are available at www.materialise.com/en/press-center
About Materialise
Materialise incorporates three decades of 3D printing experience
into a range of software solutions and 3D printing services, which
together form the backbone of the 3D printing industry.
Materialise’s open and flexible solutions enable players in a wide
variety of industries, including healthcare, automotive, aerospace,
art and design, and consumer goods, to build innovative 3D printing
applications that aim to make the world a better and healthier
place. Headquartered in Belgium, with branches worldwide,
Materialise combines the largest group of software developers in
the industry with one of the largest 3D printing facilities in the
world. For additional information, please visit:
www.materialise.com.
About Link3D
Link3D, a global leader in additive workflow and manufacturing
execution systems (MES), offers SaaS-based solutions to help
organizations scale and optimize their additive manufacturing
ecosystems. Link3D solutions connect with complex supply
chains and IT environments to provide actionable analytics and
greater visibility into the production process – ultimately helping
achieve improved productivity, asset utilization, and quality
outcomes. To learn more about Link3D, please visit:
www.link3d.co
Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release are
“forward-looking” and are made pursuant to the safe harbor
provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements include statements relating to,
among other things, the expected timing of the exercise of
Materialise's option to acquire Link3D and the closing of the
acquisition; the ability of the parties to complete the acquisition
considering the various closing conditions; the expected benefits
of the acquisition; and statements about Materialise's
and Link3d’s products, customers and markets. These
forward-looking statements are based upon the expectations of
management under current assumptions at the time of this press
release. Materialise cautions you that forward-looking statements
are not guarantees of future performance and involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are in some
cases beyond Materialise’s control that may cause Materialise’s
actual results to differ materially from its expectations.
Materialise is providing this information as of the date of this
press release and does not undertake any obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless
Materialise has obligations under the federal securities laws to
update and disclose material developments related to previously
disclosed information.
Kristof Sehmke
Materialise
+32477702260
kristof.sehmke@materialise.be
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