Prodways Group, a company specializing in industrial and professional 3D printing, is discontinuing its line of small printers for jewelry casting. According to the company, the disappointing performance in 2023, mainly due to weak machinery sales, has led the group to take measures to quickly improve its results.
Prodways Group remains a key player in the global 3D printing scene, both technologically and in terms of financial profitability, and this decision is expected to strengthen this position by allowing the group to focus on the segment of large industrial printers.
For several years, the company has been marketing small printers for the high-end jewelry sector under the Solidscape brand. The sales of these small printers – with a unit value of approximately €15k – as well as the associated materials and services, reportedly generated a turnover of around €5 million in 2023, and a significant operating loss. The cessation of this activity is therefore expected to have a positive structural impact on Prodways’ profitability.
Although the market for 3D printing in the jewelry industry is still growing, the weak performance of these systems last year has led the group to reassess the efforts needed to turn around this small printer business, especially in comparison with the prospects for industrial printers. Prodways Group will shift focus from jewelry to large high-value-added printers and associated materials, in particular the MovingLight range – a segment with more room for growth and a higher profitability profile. The company also benefits from its positioning in existing markets, such as the medical sector, and could generate opportunities through new industrial applications for sectors such as aeronautics.
The shutdown of the jewelry activity should be finalized by the end of summer 2024. The impact in the 2023 financial statements is currently estimated at around €15 million in depreciation (non-cash impact), with the figure being finalized during the ongoing consolidation of the 2023 financial statements. In 2024, the costs related to this shutdown are expected to represent just over €1 million, primarily in the first half of the year.
