Arcam reports significant investments in technology and capacity
July 21, 2016
The Arcam Group has reported continued growth during the first six months of 2016, with an increase in sales of 17% to 307.6 million SEK (262.0 million SEK) and trailing twelve month sales amounts to 621.7 million SEK (490.0 million SEK). Operating income for the period was 4.1 million SEK (23.5 million SEK) and trailing twelve month operating income amounts to 30.7 million SEK (49.0 million SEK).
In the first six months the company delivered 28 of its EBM systems, compared to 23 in the same period of 2015. It was stated that in the last twelve months a total of 56 systems have been delivered. AP&C, the group’s metal powder manufacturer, more than doubled its order intake compared to the same period 2015. In May the company decided to add significant capacity by building a new powder manufacturing plant in Montreal.
“We continue to pursue and develop our long-term strategy to industrialize the EBM technology and simultaneously developing the metal powder manufacturing and contract manufacturing business. We invest significantly in technology, marketing and manufacturing capacity to meet our customers’ demands and growing expectations on productivity and reliability,” stated Magnus René, President and CEO.
During the second quarter 14 EBM systems were delivered, with the majority going to customers in the implant or the aerospace industry. “The demand for EBM systems is driven by how quickly our customers in the aerospace and implant industry are moving towards production, a process that is dependent on both technical and commercial factors,” added René. In the period, Arcam received nine new orders and the order book by the end of the quarter amounted to 14 systems.
“One of our new clients is the US based implant manufacturer Exactech. They produce EBM implants via a contract manufacturer since 2010 and they have decided to build its own manufacturing operation and placed an order of 2 EBM systems,” stated René.
During the period, Arcam Q10plus and Arcam Q20plus were launched. The new systems are claimed to be a significantly enhanced generation of the Arcam Q-series EBM systems for Additive Manufacturing. Arcam Qplus offers up to 25% higher productivity with significantly improved surface finish and precision. With Qplus, Arcam also introduced Arcam xQam™, an X-ray based function for high precision auto-calibration and improved beam control.
To meet the growing demand for AP&C’s titanium powder for Additive Manufacturing the company now has six reactors in operation with plans to have eight reactors operating in its current plant in Montreal by the end of the year. In May it was announced that to further increase capacity a new powder manufacturing plant would be built outside Montreal, Canada. The investment is initially for $23 million CAD. With the present build-out AP&C will reach a capacity of at least 750 tons per year. “The new plant will be built in modules and can in the long run be extended so that we reach a combined total capacity of over 1,200 tons per year in both production plants,” added René.
Since February Arcam’s contract manufacturer DiSanto has a new management. The business continues to be burdened by weak sales for implants made with traditional technology. In the period several new customer projects for EBM manufactured implants have been added. It was stated that revenues from this part of the business are increasing but still not compensating for the weak sales within traditionally manufactured implants. Hence, Arcam has in the period written down the parent company holding in DiSanto with 28 million SEK. This has no effect on the consolidated numbers for the group, it was added.
During the first half of the year, Arcam strengthened its sales and support organisation in Germany, Italy and in the USA with new sales people in the field and a strengthened sales management. A new sales office in Stuttgart will initially drive sales in Germany and in the future also serve as a local support office. The operation is led by Peter Jain, who has a solid background in the machine tool industry.
In Italy Arcam has strengthened the organisation with local management where its former agent, Fausto Asvisio, is now employed full time. The office in Turin is responsible for sales and service and is working closely with Arcam’s customers in the country.
