Prodways Group announced an unusual deal in which they are buying a piece of US-based XD Innovation.
Prodways Group is a French-based manufacturer of industrial 3D printers, originally offering production equipment for producing ceramic and plastic parts, but since then expanded into metal, jewelry 3D printers, investment casting, 3D print services, CAD software and a wide array of 3D print materials in various formats.
The ambitious company now provides solutions in a number of industries, including parts production, art, podiatry, dental and earmolds. They’re dramatically larger than when we first encountered them at a Euromold event many years ago.
XD Innovation and 3DEXPERIENCE
Now they have made an arrangement with XD Innovation, who are a Colorado-based company that provides customers with Dassault Systèmes products. Dassault Systèmes is of course known for their popular SOLIDWORKS CAD system, but also have expanded into a number of associated areas related to product design and implementation. They’ve recently enabled cloud-based integration between all of them under the “3DEXPERIENCE” banner.
The Dassault Systèmes strategy is quite powerful, and addresses the needs of larger manufacturers who, without the necessary inter-system integration, would get tangled up in processes. One company that recently took the plunge into 3DEXPERIENCE is Lockheed Martin, who believe they can benefit from significant workflow advantages with the system.
That’s what XD Innovation sells and adds value to, and up to now they’ve done so in North America quite successfully. They’re one of Dassault Systèmes’ Platinum Business Partners, which is a code for “they sell a lot of it”. The change here is that Prodways Group will be setting up an operation in Europe, named, as you might expect, “XD Innovation Europe”.
That’s a good move, but it seems that Prodways Group is correspondingly taking a piece of the action. They explain:
“Prodways Group announced the acquisition of a minority stake in the share capital of XD Innovation.”
Why do this? I think it’s an incredibly good move by Prodways Group that should greatly assist growing their business in future years.
Prodways Group Strategy
The core of the issue in my mind is that businesses need a lot of assistance to properly take advantage of current and upcoming additive manufacturing capabilities. While companies may know their own line of business, they may not know how to apply it to a new technology infrastructure, especially in an optimal manner. They also may be discouraged by the sometimes daunting challenges of implementing modern digital manufacturing workflows.
These are precisely the services offered by XD Innovations, and likely a good part of the reasons why they have been successful in North America. With Prodways Group deeply involved in XD Innovation Europe, they will be able to “turn on” many more potential clients to advanced technology in a safe and comfortable manner.
With Prodways Group present at the table and able to offer a wide variety of equipment, materials, and services, you can bet a lot of business will be coming their way through XD Innovations.
Via Prodways Group
