A surprising announcement emerged from AMT this week: they are reducing their staff.
AMT is a growing startup company that focuses on post processing equipment for additive manufacturing operations. Their popular PostPro line of devices provides considerable throughput capability for their customers.
The company’s strategy seems sound: they foresaw an increasing amount of end-use part production using a variety of higher throughput 3D printers, and all of this activity would certainly require various amounts of post processing. Their systems are designed to simplify that work.
The PostPro equipment offers sophisticated post processing through algorithmic controls and highly tuned post processing job profiles. This ensures that parts undergo identical processing from batch to batch, something production operations require. Their goal was to achieve a fully automated end-to-end system that enables 24/7 lights out operation.
When we last spoke with AMT CEO Joseph Crabtree in 2022, he explained the company was growing strongly, and was even considering the development of a metal 3D print post processing system.
Everything seemed ok from the outside until this week’s announcement. In the announcement, they reveal there has been a “strategic restructuring” of the company’s business model. They intend on focusing on sustainable growth and profitability, and this required reducing staff and consolidating other operations.
Crabtree explained:
“These are challenging times for our industry, and we’ve had to make some tough decisions. One of the most difficult has been reducing our workforce. We are deeply sorry to have to let go of so many dedicated team members. We greatly appreciate their contributions and are committed to supporting them through this transition.
However, it’s critical that we adjust our business to align with the current market realities. Despite these challenges, our order book remains strong, and we project our revenue for this year to be in the range of £11-13 million (approx. $14.5-17M USD), with a clear path to profitability in Q4.”
Evidently the company was not profitable previously. In retrospect, this was perhaps not surprising, as the company carried a rather large presence in spite of being a new startup.
In particular, I recall seeing a truly massive two-story exhibit at last year’s Formnext event, where AMT demonstrated a variety of their technologies. Their display was easily one of the largest at an event that normally includes many impressive stands from exhibitors.
Evidently the company will no longer use this style of marketing, as they apparently will no longer be exhibiting at events. Head of Sales Giorgio Ioannides explained:
“We have decided to refrain from exhibiting at in-person trade shows this year, choosing instead to support our partners at these events. This will allow us to focus more intensely on our existing clients and streamline our efforts.”
This move will certainly save a considerable amount of cash, as deploying enormous stands at major events is quite expensive.
This is not the end for AMT, but rather a shift in gears and a focus on becoming leaner. Many startups experience this phenomenon, as initial expectations of growth turn out to be too optimistic and then reality sets in. This could be the case at AMT.
Via AMT
