Hey, things are really bad... Colibrium Additive plans to lay off nearly 200 people in Germany

The Atomic Layers: S6E3 (00150)

Atomic Layer of the Day:

Yesterday, in the News & Gossip section, I mentioned planned layoffs at GE-owned Colibrium Additive in Germany. American manufacturer of industrial metal 3D printers utilizing PBF (formerly Concept Laser), EBM (formerly Arcam), and BinderJetting technologies experienced significant losses in 2024 and is now planning to lay off between 40% and 48% of its workforce.

When I brought this up yesterday, I didn’t realize the scale of the numbers involved. Well, I dug deeper today, and the figures are alarming. The German branch of Colibrium Additive, located in Lichtenfels, employs approximately 400 people. This means that between 160 and 192 employees are at risk of losing their jobs!

This is very, very bad.

The story is somewhat dated but was only covered by the German portal Obermain Tagblatt just after the Christmas. According to their report, on Friday, December 13, 2024, at an employee assembly, Colibrium Additive’s CEO, Alexander Schmitz, announced plans for mass layoffs. These are scheduled for January to February 2025, citing weak order volumes as the main reason.

Present at the assembly were Daniel Freudenberg, CFO, and Jan Siebert, Head of Supply Chain. Volker Dumsky, the chairman of the workers’ council, also attended but neither he nor the management provided clear answers to key employee questions. Unions such as IG Metall or Christliche Gewerkschaft Metall were not invited, which sparked outrage among employees. Shocked by the scale of the layoffs and the management’s lack of dialogue, workers considered strikes, and the atmosphere in the facility was tense.

According to Obermain Tagblatt, Colibrium Additive has been financially troubled for some time. The company recorded significant losses: €-26 million in 2022 and €-52.9 million in 2023, despite revenue growth to €80.6 million. These revenues, though higher than in previous years, still did not reach pre-pandemic levels (€89.7 million in 2019).

Additionally, just a few weeks ago, Colibrium Additive caused a stir in the region when part of the company’s administrative and production space was listed for rent through Leib Immobilien. While a company spokesperson denied this at the time, employee representatives were already speculating about a potential imbalance at Colibrium Additive.

Workers’ council chairman Volker Dumsky avoided commenting, redirecting journalists’ inquiries directly to the management. These actions were criticized by unions, who accused the company of a lack of transparency.

The Christliche Gewerkschaft Metall union, whose collective agreement partially applies to Colibrium Additive, was also excluded from the process, which its representatives described as a "policy of avoiding dialogue." Heinz Gärtner, the DGB regional chairman, noted that the company’s atmosphere is dreadful, with employees afraid to speak up.

Since its establishment in 2016 as GE Additive, Colibrium Additive has been one of the leaders in the metal AM sector. The PBF technology developed by Concept Laser and the EBM technology from Swedish firm Arcam initially provided a significant technological edge over competitors. In 2022, the company launched its first commercial BinderJetting system, entering a third 3D printing technology for metal powders.

Now, however, it seems all of this may have been for nothing.

Laying off nearly half the workforce is a drastic restructuring move. I’d go so far as to say this is more of a survival strategy. In my opinion, if a buyer appeared, GE wouldn’t hesitate for a moment. But I doubt it will…

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Atomic Layer from the Past:

01-03-2018: Sciaky announced record-breaking sales of large-format 3D printers based on EBAM technology.

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News & Gossip:

1. Shenzhen-based Anycubic has launched the Anycubic S1 Combo, a multi-color CoreXY 3D printer with a 250 x 250 x 250 mm build volume, triple cooling, and advanced calibration. Pre-sale starts at $549 until January 5, 2025, with shipping beginning February 11th. It supports up to eight-color printing.

2. “You’ve been sold short to a scam” - this is one of my best articles ever written. It describes the main causes of the financial crisis that the Western AM industry has found itself in. You can read it on VoxelMatters.

3. I remind you that this is what the Colibrium Additive stand at Formnext looked like. It was one of the four largest at the fair.