Okay, now I know what Forward AM insolvency is all about (and it's nothing good)

The Atomic Layers: S7E4 (00182)

Atomic Layer of the Day:

Yesterday in News & Gossip, I mentioned that on February 1, 2025, the insolvency process for Forward AM officially began. This sounds quite confusing, considering that the initial information on this matter surfaced at the end of November last year, right after the conclusion of Formnext 2024 in Frankfurt.

Well, today I managed to access official court documents, and after analyzing them, I now understand the situation. In short—nothing good for Forward AM. But let’s go step by step...

On February 1, 2025, the District Court in Heidelberg, Germany, officially opened insolvency proceedings for Forward AM Technologies GmbH. The legal basis for this decision is insolvency and excessive debt. The appointed insolvency administrator is Tobias Wahl, a lawyer from Mannheim, who will be responsible for managing the insolvency estate and overseeing the liquidation of assets.

Companies with outstanding claims against Forward AM must now submit them to the administrator.

The court has set a deadline for creditors to file their claims—March 7, 2025. The list of submitted claims will be available for review at the court from March 13, while the creditors' meeting is scheduled for two weeks later, on March 26.

During this meeting, the parties will determine the strategy for further proceedings—such as continuing the company's operations, selling assets, or full liquidation. They will also decide on potential employee payouts from the insolvency fund and approve the administrator’s actions regarding the sale of assets or company shares.

Oh, and this is interesting! On November 29 last year, a temporary creditors' committee was formed, which included... BASF SE, the main creditor of Forward AM. Other members are Prosma GmbH & Co. KG (representing smaller creditors) and the Bundesagentur für Arbeit (the German employment agency, representing employees).

So why is the process officially starting only now if insolvency was declared in November?

On November 29, 2024, the court established a temporary creditors' committee and appointed a temporary administrator (the so-called "vorläufiger Insolvenzverwalter"). February 1, 2025, marks the official start of the full insolvency proceedings. Under German insolvency law, there is a preliminary phase ("vorläufiges Insolvenzverfahren") that allows for an in-depth financial analysis and decision-making preparation. Only after completing this phase does the court officially open the main insolvency proceedings, enabling asset liquidation or potential restructuring.

So, in November, the insolvency procedure was initiated, and now it is officially starting.

Finally, I want to highlight one more thing. The situation is complicated because we don’t fully know the exact relationships between Forward AM (specifically Forward AM Technologies GmbH) and other associated companies. For example, Forward AM B.V., which produces filaments (formerly Innofil3D), or Sculpteo. Theoretically, these are completely independent entities that regained their autonomy after being spun off from BASF in July 2024. However, it's unclear whether any obligations or financial ties remain between them (at least, I don’t know at this point).

So, the situation is still developing, and I will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.

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Atomic Layer from the Past:

02-04-2014: Materialise acquired the largest Polish AM service provider – e-Prototypy.

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News & Gossip:

1. Horizon Microtechnologies has launched its Product Shop, offering standardised and customised horn antennas. The platform highlights precision AM and proprietary coating processes, enabling lightweight, customisable, and efficient RF components. Users can explore options, request custom solutions, and receive quotes within 2 days, reinforcing Horizon’s leadership in precision additive manufacturing. Horizon Microtechnologies was featured in German edition of The 3D Printing World Guide.

2. Aibuild has opened its new US headquarters in San Francisco, located within Nikon’s research campus. The UK-based AI-powered AM software developer aims to expand its North American customer base and strengthen its partnership with Nikon.

3. AM industry veteran - John Oney recently prepared a document discussing material strengthening mechanisms in the context of additive manufacturing post-processing. In it, Oney analyzes various methods for enhancing the strength of metals, such as grain size reduction, solid solution strengthening, work hardening (cold working), as well as atomic diffusion and migration. You can find the details here.