Concept laser

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Concept laser
legal form GmbH
founding 2000
Seat Lichtenfels
management Daniel Freudenberg, Martin Hofmann and Dr. Andreas Lessmann
Number of employees 300 (as of April 2017)
sales 68.4 million EUR (2015)
Branch Manufacture of 3D laser metal printers
Website www.concept-laser.de
As of December 31, 2015

The Concept Laser GmbH is an in Upper Franconia Lichtenfels beheimateter manufacturer of 3D laser metal printer for industrial applications. Concept Laser is a pioneer in powder bed-based laser melting of metals. The rapidly growing 3D printing , with its digital process chain from construction to the finished component, is a major impetus for the Industry 4.0 strategy.

Characteristics

According to the Federal Gazette, the company's income statement for 2015 shows sales of EUR 68,355,079.84. This resulted in an annual surplus of EUR 7,554,961.19.

Concept Laser expected an operating profit ( Ebitda ) of 40 (previous year 2014: 25) million euros in 2015 . GE values ​​the company at more than 730 million euros.

The company with 300 employees was acquired in October 2016 by General Electric (GE) with a majority stake of 75% for 549 million euros. GE took over the remaining 25% of the company's shares in 2019.

Company history

Concept Laser was founded in 2000 by Frank Herzog after completing his studies as a graduate engineer. in mechanical engineering at the FH Coburg , together with his wife Kerstin Herzog.

Herzog, who is still the managing partner of the company, saw a machine during a student job at Modellbau Robert Hofmann GmbH , a company owned by his wife's uncle, that implemented the 3D plastic-based process with liquid resin and UV light . Herzog then looked for a comparable solution for additive processing of metal, which was made possible with the appearance of the world's first 3D metal printer in 1998.

The company's customers come from numerous industries, for example medical and dental technology, the aerospace industry, tool and mold construction, the automotive, watch and jewelry industries.

Concept Laser as part of the Hofmann Innovation Group (2000–2016)

In addition to the toolmaking company Siegfried Hofmann GmbH (including the winner of “ Toolmaker of the Year 2005”) and Robert Hofmann Modellbau GmbH , which are also located in the An der Zeil industrial park in the Schney district , Concept Laser also became part of the Hofmann Innovation Group GmbH , which originally started out as toolmaking in 1958 Hofmann was founded in Lichtenfels.

Concept Laser developed a patented process that, in contrast to other laser sintering methods , uses a stochastic exposure strategy that successively processes individual layers according to the "island principle". This process, registered under the LaserCUSING® brand, enables a significant reduction in stresses in the component for the generative production of low-warpage and large-volume components. The first LaserCUSING® machines were presented at the EuroMold in 2001 .

The first commercial applications were systems for the additive manufacturing of tool inserts for the conformal cooling of injection molding tools with embedded cooling channels.

In contrast to the consumer segment for 3D printers, where mainly competitors from the United States and Asia dominate the world market, Concept Laser, together with EOS from Krailling, SLM Solutions from Lübeck and Realizer from Borchen, was already one of the early 2010s German main players in the global market for industrial high-end machines that use laser light or UV rays to produce workpieces from metal powder or special liquid plastics.

The US market researcher Terry Wohlers said in the autumn of 2012: "Last year two thirds of all machines for laser melting technology sold worldwide came from German production". EOS had around 40 percent of the global market share in 2012, and Concept Laser, SLM and Realizer put together around a quarter.

Due to the increasing acceptance of additive manufacturing from 2010 and the range of products on offer, the company posted above-average growth rates of between 40 and 50 percent. From 2013 to 2014 there was an increase in sales of 75 percent, which was mainly due to the sale of large systems in the 1000 W / m² laser class (first model: X Line 1000R, model 2017: X LINE 2000R with dual laser technology and a construction space of 800 × 400 × 500 mm 3 (x, y, z)) was ascribed. In 2013, the order intake was 84 machines. In 2014 this was 110 machines and in 2015 it was 161 machines, which led to a 54 percent increase in sales compared to 2014.

In mid-September 2016, Stefan Asche reported on sales speculation in the VDI nachrichten . In this context he wrote in conclusion: “The three companies [EOS, SLM and Concept Laser] are not only leaders in Germany. They are the spearheads in their industry worldwide. "

According to Frank Herzog, growth was so strong that a medium-sized company would increasingly come up against its limits in terms of innovation and investment from its own resources. In addition, the start-ups in the market were predominantly pioneers from the very beginning, which would soon call industrial investors on the scene. Concept Laser therefore sounded out possible candidates from 2014 at the latest in order to be taken over in order to ensure further growth. Of 48 candidates, GE remained in the end.

After GE decided to make 3D printing technology a core business, GE went on a “shopping spree” in Europe and, besides Concept Laser, also had SLM Solutions in its sights. The attempt to acquire 75% of the SLM shares failed due to the resistance of the hedge fund Elliott Management, which holds 20% of the SLM shares (as of 2016).

Concept Laser under GE General Electric (from 2016)

In 2016, the management of Concept Laser GmbH decided to sell the major shares in GE Aviation , whose offer was 549 million euros for a majority stake of 75%. Concept Laser thus separated from the Hofmann Innovation Group . This was preceded by the takeover of SLM Solutions by GE Aviation, which failed because of the price request from the important shareholder, the hedge fund Elliott.

In autumn 2016, Arcam AB from Mölndal ( Sweden ) was taken over by GE Aviation at almost the same time . Both companies were integrated under the umbrella of the newly established GE Additive unit . By 2020, GE is hoping to generate one billion euros in sales through the acquisitions.

With an investment of 100 million euros originally planned by the parent company GE, Concept Laser has been expanding at the Lichtenfels location since September 2017, whereby GE wants to expand its use in the aviation industry and create 400 more jobs at the Lichtenfels location. Since the previous headquarters in the industrial area in Lichtenfels- Schney despite an originally end of 2016 applied for 35,000 m²-large extension does not allow further expansion, resulting in new in April 2017 from Lichtenfelser City Council at a special meeting of the new building with office and production buildings were commercial zone B 89 to the A 73 (here part of the BAB 173 ) decided. The area is used to build a 117,000 m² "3D campus" with a representative administration building and production facilities. Production on the new campus should start at the end of 2018. The new plant was inaugurated on September 13, 2019. The move of the production from the current Concept-Laser-Werk in the Lichtenfelser district Schney should be completed by the end of the year and the office complex should be occupied one year later.

In July 2019 it became known that founder Frank Herzog was retiring from the management. The official commercial register announcement was made on August 22, 2019.

Patents

As a pioneer of the powder bed-based laser melting process, the company holds more than 110 valid and current patents.

Awards (selection)

  • 2001: EuroMold Award in silver for the LaserCUSING® system M3 linear
  • 2008: Recognition at the Bavarian Innovation Prize 2008 for the LaserCUSING® M2 cusing system
  • 2014: Bavaria's best 50
  • 2015: "Growth Champion", FOCUS
  • 2016: International Additive Manufacturing Award for the QM Meltpool 3D tool
  • 2016: Materialica Design & Technology Award for the “NextGen Spaceframe” project together with the project partners involved
  • 2016: "Growth Champion", FOCUS
  • 2016: 1st main prize at the Bavarian Innovation Prize 2016 for the QM Meltpool 3D tool
  • 2017: iF Design Award for the user interface design of the CL WRX 3.0 software

In addition to the company, Frank Herzog has also received several awards as an entrepreneur.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Procuration: Sam Leary North Data (August 13, 2019); accessed on December 3, 2019.
  2. ^ A b c Franz-Martin Engeser: Concept Laser in Lichtenfels. General Electric invests 100 million euros. ( Memento of January 17, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) BR24 , April 25, 2017.
  3. ↑ Federal Gazette of February 7, 2017
  4. ↑ Federal Gazette of February 7, 2017
  5. ↑ Handelsblatt: GE takes over majority of 3D printing plant manufacturer. In: Handelsblatt. Handelsblatt, October 27, 2016, accessed on November 27, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Stefan Weinzierl: 3D printing: GE buys Concept Laser. (No longer available online.) In: Produktion.de. Verlag Moderne Industrie, November 27, 2016, archived from the original on December 1, 2017 ; accessed on November 27, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.produktion.de
  7. ^ Johannes Gartner: Concept Laser GmbH / Hoffmann Innovation Group. 3Druck.com - The magazine for 3D printing technologies (3Druck.com), February 20, 2013.
  8. ↑ Terry Wohlers: History of Additive Fabrication (Part 1) . AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. March 1, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ Terry Wohlers, Tim Gornet: History of Additive Fabrication (Part 2) . AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. May 1, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2012. Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  10. ↑ Thomas Kuhn: How 3-D printing is revolutionizing industry. Wirtschaftswoche , November 16, 2012.
  11. ↑ Ulrich Knorra: Concept Laser increases sales by 75 percent. Online article, Springer Professional, March 17, 2015.
  12. ↑ Concept Laser with highest sales so far. 3Dmake.de, March 16, 2016.
  13. ↑ Stefan Asche: German printers in great demand. VDI nachrichten , Issue 37, September 15, 2016.
  14. ↑ Uwe Ritzer: High-tech in Lichtenfels - the third dimension. In: http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/hightech-in-lichtenfels-die-dritte-dimension-1.3500788 . SZ Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 11, 2017, accessed on June 27, 2018 (German).
  15. ↑ Karlheinz Efkemann: Concept Laser Sales: A decision for the location and the employees. In: https://www.metallhandwerk.de/ . Bundesverband Metall, accessed on December 3, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Simone Käfer / Kathrin Schäfer: The two most intense days in my life. In: https://www.devicemed.de/ . Device Med, November 2, 2018, accessed December 3, 2019 .
  17. ↑ a b City Council Lichtenfels decides to build a new Concept Laser. inFranken.de, April 24, 2017.
  18. ↑ Ramona Popp: Expansion on the Zeil: three companies in Lichtenfels are growing strongly. inFranken.de, December 1, 2016.
  19. ↑ Desirée Backhaus; Michael Hedtstück: GE fails with takeover of SLM Solutions. In: https://www.finance-magazin.de/deals/ma/ge-scheitert-mit-uebernahme-von-slm-solutions-1390691/ . Finance Magazin, October 27, 2016, accessed on June 27, 2018 (German).
  20. ^ GE Additive: GE Agrees to Purchase Controlling Shares of Arcam AB. In: GE Additive. GE Additive, accessed November 27, 2017 .
  21. ^ Additive Manufacturing Today (USA): General Electric Announces Launch of GE Additive. Retrieved November 27, 2017 .
  22. ↑ Markus Drossel: Frank Herzog / Concept Laser: "Godfather of laser printing" works. In: https://www.obermain.de/ . Obermain-Tagblatt, July 23, 2019, accessed on December 3, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Plant technology Bavarian Innovation Award: Concept Laser is there. medicine & technology11. August 2008.
  24. ↑ Bavaria's Best 50th Chamber of Crafts for Upper Franconia , August 11, 2014.
  25. ↑ IAMA 2016: Concept Laser wins the race. Press release, published by Sylke Becker, Association of German Machine Tool Builders , Frankfurt a. M., February 2016.
  26. ↑ Concept Laser and Frank Herzog receive numerous awards. Form + Werkzeug, January 19, 2017.

Coordinates: 50 ° 9 ′ 39.6 ″  N , 11 ° 3 ′ 52.1 ″  E