You touch on a very important point which is key to the value of Sigma. Manufacturing is going through a monumental change of which it is really only starting to understand the implications. Since around 2007 and the invent of Hadloop and big data analytics the information revolution has transformed everything around us in ways we are becoming increasingly unable to comprehend. The key change was not just the ability to collect data, but the ability to make action from it. The value with which this has changed the ways the new generation of business interacts with its customers and markets has been nothing short of a phenomenon. Do not underestimate just how big this change is. It is shaping and driving your world even if you are not aware.
Additive manufacturing is, as Florian Mauerer, head of AM at Oerlikon, said " the physical leg of the information revolution". This is probably the most acute description of AM i have heard and this should make anyone wake up and take notice. You definitely want to be involved. It is the confluence of this information revolution and physical science. Sigma's ability to collect and make actionable data from the physical build sits in the exact sweet spot of the way manufacturing will go. And do not be under any illusion, even taking Sigma out of the equation, this science meets data is absolutely, without any doubt, the way manufacturing will go. As you point out years of tradition will have to be sidestepped, engineers will have to refocus but there will be no stopping the direction. Big data analysis and manufacturing are now converging and that will change manufacturing forever. This analysis, data collection and reduction into edge intelligence is exactly what Sigma does. As of now there is no other company that specialises in Sigmas niche with anywhere near the commerciability of Sigma. Down the line, who knows, there may well be, but this change is so profound, and will be so prevalent in manufacturing, and industry of monumental magnitude that Sigma is likely to capture a chunk that will dwarf many peoples expectations. Even now they are collecting data through their EAP that increases their value, and the intrinsic value of PR3D. Those who have the data hold the key. Sigma is a unique company with world class heritage and experience in the algorithms needed to assist the industry in its metamorphosis.
As John Rice said, and you have mentioned, right now it is an exercise in changing mind sets. Apparently with good results in testing, very good results. But it does take time. The key is that tier 1 players are listening. People are aware things are changing, they are aware data is revolutionising their world, they are just trying to work out how. That is to be expected.
Change is coming. Change will happen and once a small degree of success opens i expect the floodgates will open. The gains to be made, the time to be saved, the costs to be reduced are too competitively crucial to be ignored. A fully working AM factory with in-process inspection will beat hands down any traditional shop floor in price, complexity and speed.
As the Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said "Data is the new oil....Oil and gas infused themselves into every aspect of life and commerce. You can say the same today about data. Those who are most adept at drilling for this data, that is digitising it, amassing it, storing it - and then using the algorithms to analyse, optimize, customise, prophesize and automize it to improve every possible service, design, customer experience or manufacturing process - will be the winners", and he continued. Those who don't "will be dead in five years"
Those who can analyse huge amounts of material data will be able to spot trends in quality never seen before, at a speed never seen before, at a stage in the manufacturing process never seen before. And this will be a virtuous circle, the more data you collect, the more you analyze it the better your results will be and so on.
This is all the confluence of changes in the last decade as microchip power increased and accelerated to a level that could handle the sheer volume of data sets, and the rise of Hadloop allowed it to make sense of it all. Do not fall into the trap of looking at the next 20 years of manufacturing through the prism of the last 20 years of manufacturing. Big, big changes are coming, most of which we, as bystanders, can only guess about. But AM, and in-process data analysis sits right in the conflux of where it is headed. It is still up to Sigma Labs to make sure their product becomes a reliable and constant player in the future, but that for sure is what they are gunning for and until anyone can mention another player who is as well positioned as they are with a commercial product in their niche then they are definitely still a highly favourable horse in the race to benefit.
The present stock price completely and utterly misses the potential here. I get it, people are tired of 'potential' and expected huge revenues already. Slow news cycles and a thin market makes it easier for things to go south rather than north at this point. But there is a fundamental misunderstanding, mispricing and lack of understanding by the majority of investors on what is going on in the industry and where it is headed. Look at the board, the make up of investors has hardly changed in 2 years, if not more. What sigma does isn't sexy, its behind the scenes, it is highly complex and well beyond the mental capacity of pretty much everyone here (i fully include myself here). But to value their skill set, their technology, their unique algorithmic foundation, built following 30 years of work with the worlds pre-emininet physics laboratory as the industry starts to change into exactly that field at $6m is a joke. But i have been supremely happy to capitalise on that.
Do not assume nothing is happening. Do not assume nothing is changing. If manufacturing changes the way information software has changed in the last 10 years then many many people are up for a very rude awakening. Anyone want to bet against that? It is the natural progression, the extension of data into manufacturing.
Sigma's value, sitting in the middle of the upcoming revolution in manufacturing, specialising in exactly the data driven science that will make it possible, is exponential.
Time will tell, but this change is too big, too important, too inevitable to blindly dismiss Sigma Labs potential future.
AI
