Jeff Graves is to step down as 3D Systems‘ CEO once a replacement has been found, the company has announced.He will then retire as CEO and as Director of the Board of Directors.The company wants to find a replacement this calendar year and is undertaking a CEO search process as we speak.
Chairman of the Board Chip McClure said, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Jeff for his leadership and contributions to 3D Systems.Over the past several years, the Company has made meaningful progress in strengthening its operating foundation, sharpening its strategic focus, and positioning the business for long-term profitability and growth.We are grateful for Jeff’s service to the Company and for his support during this transition to ensure a seamless handoff of leadership responsibilities.” While Jeff Graves said, “I am proud of the progress the Company has made over the last six years and grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside the talented employees of 3D Systems.
It has been a privilege to serve our customers and shareholders, and I am confident that the Company is well positioned to build on this foundation and capitalize on the exciting opportunities in the industry ahead.I remain fully committed to leading the Company during this time and supporting a seamless transition.” What Happened During Jeff’s Tenure First off, Jeff rewired a lot of the firm.He implemented a lot of cultural changes, did a lot of financial plumbing, and made the company much more cohesive.
The buying spree the company went on earlier never really led to any meaningful integration.Jeff really took strides to make the company an actual company.Jeff split the company into healthcare and industrial solutions.
He also cut the workforce by a fifth in 2020.3D Systems President and CEO Dr.Jeffrey Graves.
Image courtesy of 3D Systems.Bioprinting firm Allevi and simulation firm Additive Works were acquired.The company also bought Titan Robotics to move into large-format material extrusion.
PEEK printing company Kumovis was bought.And AI-based workflow tool Oqton was purchased as well.Another firm, Dp Polar, pointed to larger-scale possibilities in vat polymerization.
There was a lot of noise over work on lungs with United Therapeutics.The SLS firm WeMatter was bought.The Nexdent portfolio grew; the company did more in clear aligners and in jetted dentures.
Results? I loved the work on integrating the firm.At one point, Jeff also brought in some very promising veterans to really renew the business (who later all left).I was positive about a healthcare-focused strategy.
But, we can conclude that the acquisitions have done little for the firm.Even though Kumovis is a good product and hospital device manufacturing is growing, as is hospital 3D printing generally, this was not a bridgehead to expanded success there.Volumetric and Allevi should have brought in more of a lead in bio printing.
Large format Material Extrusion has grown significantly, but a well-working transparent offering from Titan has not grown with it.Formlabs and HP are now releasing entry-level Laser Powder Bed Systems that could have competed head-on with an ahead-of-its-time WeMatter system.AI workflows are a jackpot idea even now; users love Oqton, but the unit has been sold.
And at 180 million, the acquisition price was too rich. What’s more, the company didn’t get a huge AI windfall from the AI attention wave during its ownership.Geomagic is a much-loved tool and had good margins but was sold as well.
Medical simulation tool Simbionix and Quickparts were sold too.Simbionix was sold for much more than it paid, which is nice.I think that strategically and in predicting the overall paths of the market, Jeff and his team got the future right.
But they didn´t capitalize sufficiently, in terms of revenue right now, on their plays in meeting this future.Market conditions were challenging, and a stint that goes from pandemic to trade wars with many global crises and a slowdown in Capex in between has been a perfectly rotten time to helm a company.I think that Jeff and his team have done a remarkable job in keeping it all together.
But whereas initially there was a clear path forward, this is no longer the case.State The Laser Powder Bed portfolio in metals and polymers hasn´t been strengthened enough amidst renewed competition.The firm is still very dependent on Stryker and Invisalign for around 10% of revenues each.
The firm’s softwareization and medical-centric course have changed.VAT Polymerization has Formlabs and Chinese firms to deal with.DMP´s are strong in implant manufacturing.
3D Systems’ application development team is still rock stars.The medical implants business is doing well.The company is still a mainstay in large SLA parts, patterns, and many other part families.
But, there is strong competition there.Dentures are an exciting market, but the company is betting that it will outperform Stratasys and high-letdown Xaar-enabled startups, as well as newer technology such as Quantica.Similarly, MJP is under siege from other jetting options generally.
NextDent is a great portfolio and is liked by customers.The company gets some government money, but a large project was canceled, and the firm will need to do more to get exposure to defense.Jeffrey Graves speaks at AMS 2025.
Image courtesy of 3DPrint.com.If we look at revenues year on year, healthcare is growing; margins are declining; earnings are down 0.3% year-over-year, up 1.4% excluding divestitures.The company got an offering worth $53.2 million, has $129 million in cash and $96 million in debt.
The company hopes to do 99 million in revenue next quarter.Who does 3D Systems need? 3D Systems’ next leader should be someone who wants to craft a business.They will have to not cut but form a better-performing firm.
Knowing where to go is great, but getting there is another thing entirely.And they will have to define the firm, give it new elan, and find a place for it in an increasingly uncertain world.That leader will have to unite the rank and file and push them towards excellence and renewed performance, where it can win.
Strategy is great, Volcanoes are Greater Civilizations thrive in the fertile lands surrounding volcanoes.Rich alluvial soils on flood plains birth civilization after civilization.For the past decades, all strategy and competition have taken place under open sunny skies, free money, and seemingly endless growth.
But, over the past few years, geopolitics, trade wars, and uncertainty have sent plumes of smoke into the air.Like a community in the shadow of a once dormant, now active volcano, supercharged collective illusions and hope are more powerful now.Crypto, AI, the Metaverse! Belief in the shaman and his importance is always the greatest right before the flood or pyroclastic flow.
Jeff, I think, realizes this and is trying to retool a corporation for a new world.But there is always lag between going to the gym and seeing results.In the pentathlon, a good horse rider, fencer, and swimmer will also have to shoot and run well.
In the 100 meters, it’s just about those 9 seconds in a straight line.In the current climate, both these models are under threat.A multi-product corporation is predicated on the idea of cross-selling, serving, and growing products across regions and customers.
Across technologies and industries, however, R&D budgets get split, and focus is lost.End-to-end industry-specific solutions, inexpensive systems, and specialized competitors are doing well.More specialization, more end-to-end offerings, and better individual value propositions are key.
At the same time, a laser-like focused firm still would have to deal with nimble competitors, while revenues would be concentrated on fewer products and markets; it is a time when everything is more fickle and brittle.What Should the Firm Do? In a constrained Capex, uncertain world, many firms are experiencing headwinds.The way to thrive in such times is to make your offering more specific, less risky, and easier to digest.
On the machine sales front, therefore, more leasing, renting, and pay-per-part offerings seem to be the way to go.Companies need to have consultancy-aided implementations or scale-as-you-grow paths with service partners.Services need to be turbocharged to sustain growth.
This is generally the way to go.The most direct path forward would be to relentlessly execute on making it easier to adopt products.But the firm could explore some options.
Choices The most obvious thing is for the firm to continue on the current path, but with a new CEO, there could be new choices the firm could take.Light at the End of the Tunnel.The firm could continue on a slimmed-down current path and focus on metal healthcare, polymer dental, and industrial growth areas like semiconductors.
It will strengthen its portfolio sector by sector by defining and winning specific value propositions through deep industry focus.After sufficient cuts and slimming down, the leaner firm will now be positioned to capitalize and grow.It will, in my opinion, need to come up with better-delineated offerings specific to some users and industries to focus on, so that it is not leaning on too few industries or machines, however.
Selective Sell Off to Dental.It could sell off existing units, such as the complete medical production business, and then refocus itself entirely around one industry such as dental.It could become a one-stop shop for all dental 3D printing needs and then either compete in this arena or sell to Dentsply or similar.
It could double down on dental knowledge, software, and workflows and grow in this maturing and competitive market.This would depend on how eager others are to buy right now, however.Dental is also a super competitive space.
CDMO, or it could split off the entire dental business and refocus as a CDMO business with a focus on 3D printing implants as a service.Then it could try to spin off the machine businesses to relevant industry-specific players.An AMnovis-like business that can take your idea and turn it into an approved implant is riding a lot of long-term megatrends, interesting know-how, and could be a long-term high-margin venture.
This portion would be very valuable but will be small in a business of giant firms like Interger.But, a Croom-like or Tangible-esque business seems like it could be a very solid one.In contract manufacturing for medical devices, having the appropriate scale matters.
Getting this right for the right customers will be key.Exit Stage Left.It could perhaps sell the medical device business to Tacomet, Orchid, or Materialise.
It could perhaps sell the polymer 3D printing business to Stratasys.The dental materials business could go to Dentsply.Maybe Haas or someone like that would like the DMP business.
The rest of the software businesses could be spun out.This seems like a drastic choice, but it could unlock shareholder value.Industry Split.
It could continue the polymer business as a separate entity, which perhaps would merge with Stratasys.The metals business would become a separate medical device implant manufacturer.Renewed Elan.
Or much less drastically, it could cut down the number of machines, offerings, and focus areas.Officially, now the focus is on medical, data centers, and things like this.But instead, it could develop specific end-to-end offerings made for very specific workflows.
Chairside dental, lab-based flexible products, mid-sized dental labs, scan-to-mouthguard, etc.With renewed focus and incentives, new businesses will be built around those workflows.Specific Solution.
It could offer very specific products to the installed base instead of amorphous tools.So, for $1500 a month, you have the machine, material, and software to make sports mouthguards, including the online training.With X labor and our one-click software, you would need 10 mouth guards a month to make money on this and would make $4000 in revenue next month.
It would be hard to find 66,000 subscriptions quickly, and this would be in a market where the US has 200,000 dentists.So that little back-of-the-envelope calculation shows the promise but also the limitations.Picking the right group and having the right value proposition would be paramount here.
But still, Invisalign is showing us how profitable those solutions could be.Sports mouthguard may be a $5 billion a year market, for example.The right play in dentures could work.
End Product.The company could transform itself completely into an end product business.So it could make mouthguards and other products using its technology and capture more of the solution space with its knowledge.
It would have to pick its battles wisely as to not alienate current customers while it pivots.This would be a pretty terrifying thing to do to a large company, but the winnings would be much bigger.Devising a premium custom football mouthguard would be a different skill, but with mouthguards costing $30 to $300 while precious (and expensive) smiles are in danger of being disrupted, it doesn´t seem impossible.
I mean Under Armor is essentially leotards for football players.And if someone can make that work, much else can work as well.3D Systems is a lynchpin of our industry.
The storied firm is active in many areas and several different technologies.The firm will have to pick where it wants to win, rather than compete wherever it happens to be.That process is underway with Jeff and will have to be continued under his successor.
Generally, whichever the choice, whoever the leader, the focus on easier-to-adopt products will be a part of the solution.Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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