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Two leaders in the desktop 3D printing space have just appointed new execs with a focus on global expansion.
Formlabs and Aleph Objects, both based in the US, have announced new leaders this week. Formlabs’ Form 2 and Aleph Objects’ LulzBot line are familiar sights in fablabs, studios, workshops, research labs, and classrooms around the world working with, respectively, SLA and extrusion technologies.
Following a successful expansion into Europe, with its own recent leadership shifts, Formlabs is now looking east with an expanding physical footprint and new general manager in the Asia Pacific region. The company has had a market presence in China since 2015 and the accelerating strategy now sees the establishment of a to-be-opened new APAC HQ in Singapore, the addition of a new Shenzhen warehouse, and plans to double personnel within the next calendar year.
David Tan, the new General Manager of Formlabs Asia Pacific, comes to the team following his most recent position as APAC Director of Strategy and Programs for Oracle Cloud Platform, Alliances & Channels. Formlabs Co-Founder and CEO Max Lobovsky sees “an immense amount of opportunity in Asia Pacific” and is expecting great things:
“We’re looking forward to what David and these new locations can do to improve our growing success in the region.”
For its part, Colorado-based Aleph Objects is introducing a new CEO and new CTO, both internal shifts.
Aleph Objects President Grant Flaharty adds to his existing title the CEO mantle, while Steven Abadie steps from the CEO role into that of CTO. The executive reshuffle is appropriately strategic as Aleph Objects foresees 2019 as a very busy year for the successful LulzBot line.
“The changes we are incorporating will drive significant growth as we rapidly expand our products, our reseller network, and our social presence into global markets. We are anticipating a record-breaking year with a larger percentage of business being received from outside the US,” Flaharty said.
That last statement, regarding the expectation of more international sales, is especially intriguing. We’ll be very interested to follow the team’s approach to more (social) global market presence.
For Abadie’s part, focus will sit squarely, and fittingly, on new technology developments, as he stated:
“We are working towards significant leaps in technology and design across our product line. In 2019, we expect to make a strong statement with new product offerings, all with a continued focus on Free Software, Libre Innovation, and Open Source Hardware.”
3D printing is an increasingly global business. With desktop technologies especially accessible and machines from Formlabs and LulzBot consistently ranking well among their peers, it’s unsurprising to see top-level strategies devoting more attention to market expansion.
Via Formlabs and Aleph Objects / Business Wire
