After the merger, with a market valuation of $3 billion, dual headquarters at strategic locations in the U.S. and Israel and a mature infrastructure for sales and distribution filling in those 6,000 miles between, the new Stratasys might be the big player the industry has been waiting for.
The Innovation King
Crump's dedication to innovation and to his entrepreneurial-style of R&D is legendary. It has built a billion dollar company from a hot glue experiment; it has given the world the first simple, office-friendly 3-D printer; and it has earned Crump a spot in the 2012 IndustryWeek Manufacturing Hall of Fame.
"One of the things I concluded a couple of years ago is that what I like to do best is this innovation stuff," Crump said. "A lot of people don't like it. A lot of people don't understand it -- they think somehow it's like magic. But I get it. I love it."
He likes it so much, in fact, that before the merger, when faced with a CEO role that threatened to strangle that entrepreneurial drive with business meetings and day to day business, he shifted his corporate structure to keep in him in the labs as much as possible.
"It takes a lot of time to be involved with the innovation side," he explained. "So I promoted our COO to basically run the day to day business. That has allowed me a lot more time -- maybe as much as half of my time -- available to work on innovation or with our skunk work groups."
When you look back at the history of Stratasys, of the trail of discoveries and breakthroughs it has left since its ex nihilo start back in 1991, Crump's work in these areas can be seen as the engine for not only the company, but for the 3-D printing industry he helped create.
Now, as he relinquishes his command as CEO of the much expanded company and steps into his new role as chairman -- and armed with an enormous $125 million budget -- he will be able to help define the future all the better.
"As we expand the technology, we see or our customers need new applications that expand or push us to expand the technology," he explained. "It's a symbiotic type of relationship -- getting bigger, faster, cheaper. We've recently expanded into jewelry and we've expanded into this whole high-speed, high productivity area of DDM, direct digital manufacturing."
Add to that dental, aerospace and a slew of other vertical markets and the cohesion between Reis' leadership and Crump's vision comes clear.
"Over time, this combined company will be able to do everything more and better," said Reis. "Everything is going to advance, but it is going to advance much faster than it what it was before the merger."
