Dear friend

You are one of nearly 1,000 developers, manufacturers, innovators, product developers, owner-managers and partners who receive our newsletter. You have probably taken part in our activities, advisory services or events – and this greeting is first and foremost to say thank you for the collaboration and to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

Perhaps you are – like me – sitting and watching a Christmas calendar show with the kids. I am lucky, because they are now old enough that we can watch The Julekalender. The Christmas calendar show of them all. A Danish gem that has probably earned its status because it strikes something deep in the national psyche.

The three elves, Fritz, Hansi and Günther, crash-land in a Jutland potato field in search of the key to the music box that keeps their boss, Old Enough, alive. The mission is clear: Find the key to life – or it will all go wrong.

That mission is one I can relate to.

For almost half a lifetime, I have worked with what keeps Danish industry alive: innovation. The ability to create and develop ideas and turn them into reality. Create something new. Deliver more. Make a real difference.

Despite the bleak outlook we are often presented with in Draghi reports, etc., I would venture to claim that in Denmark we are world champions in precisely that discipline. That also explains why we have thousands of small and medium-sized manufacturers who beat the Chinese every day, and some of the world’s leading manufacturers such as Grundfos, Danfoss, Lego, Novo, etc. We do not have Germany’s size, Norway’s oil or Sweden’s iron ore. But we do have something that is at least as valuable:

The open, flat and trust-based shop floor.

When I said yes to the job as CEO of Dansk AM Hub 6 years ago, I knew full well that the initiative would hardly be the biggest in Denmark. But because of the combination of the Danish shop floor and AM technology, I was completely convinced that Dansk AM Hub could become the best Danish business and innovation initiative ever. (Benny would probably say: “Bob Bob Bob” – but trust me, I can see the results).

Because yes, Additive Manufacturing and 3D printing have a technical side that must be mastered. But even more important is the idea-generating and creative process that comes with it. The printer becomes the bridge between the digital and the physical world – and on the open shop floor we can discuss ideas, test them immediately, learn fast and move on.

So our approach has always been clear: Strengthen the innovation process early. Carry out rapid – but thorough – life-cycle and business case assessments upfront. Because this is where up to 80% of both costs and carbon footprint are locked in. If we can simply shift that process in a slightly better direction, and do it for the entire industry, then on Danish soil we can create the most efficient and greenest products in the world. It’s bår’ lovely, A Saaaw: It’s bår’ lovely!

With our in-house developed software, we can now do exactly that. Much like the elves look things up in The Big Book, we draw on a unique source of data and knowledge – and help companies make better decisions early in the process.

Today, we are the only business and innovation initiative that can show which scenarios create business, technical and sustainability impact through our work with our skilled manufacturers.

So now I’ll just throw a remark out there, right?: That is concrete. That is exactly what Draghi is talking about. And let me tell you: It works.

This has only been possible because we have had the time and peace to develop the approach. That is why a big thank you is also due to Industriens Fond, where next year we will begin our third grant.

Because the new grant has made it possible to integrate our software and consolidate our experience from more than 400 advisory programmes into one approach: AM SUSTAIN. And I honestly have never seen stronger results than those achieved by the more than 30 small and medium-sized manufacturers we have helped this year with this approach.

No one mentioned, no one forgotten – but I would like to say: Well done and thank you for the collaboration to you all.

Over the year, we have also had the opportunity to test AM SUSTAIN at scale with larger manufacturers such as FUJIFILM Biotechnologies and Alfa Laval – many thanks for the collaboration to you all. Because if our approach cannot create value for you, then it is not good enough for the busy SMEs we work with every day.

I believe the reason our approach creates so much value is partly the capability we have now built up in Dansk AM Hub – where I have an exceptionally strong team that works just as hard as Hansi – but most of all that we do not just, like Günther, whittle/3D-print a propeller for our companies. No, we do not stop until we have built an entirely new capability within our companies, so that they themselves can whittle the most efficient products and solutions of the future.

That capability is an innovation engine that ensures it is us in Danish industry who find the new solutions, and that we are not overtaken by foreign naysayers.

So let us collaborate, create and build something together – because we can create tremendous value by combining AM, AI, concrete cases on the shop floor, and clear calculations of potential, scaling and implementation. That is the key to life in the competitiveness of Danish industry. And that is what Dansk AM Hub lives and breathes for.

So I am both proud and grateful to lead an initiative that learns, challenges itself, and delivers measurable value. An initiative that works with companies instead of drowning them in application forms, timesheets and hassle. (That’s a good vending)

The results speak for themselves.
Well, yeeeees…

With the warmest Christmas greetings
Frank Rosengreen Lorenzen
CEO, Dansk AM Hub