Former Fluidigm corporation executive to scale the production of Velo3d’s Sapphire family of printers to meet the company’s production goals
Velo3D, Inc. (NYSE: VLD), a leading metal additive manufacturing technology company for mission-critical parts, today announced it has appointed Brad Kreger as Executive Vice President of Operations to support the company’s goals in production growth, quality standards, and cost reduction. Kreger brings decades of experience overseeing and rapidly scaling operations in hardware production, including tenures at Thermo Fisher Scientific and its subsidiary Affymetrix, and Fluidigm Corporation. He will have oversight of Velo3D’s various manufacturing facilities and their corresponding teams, reporting to Velo3D CEO and Founder Benny Buller.
Kreger’s career has centered around early-stage companies that are scaling the manufacturing of hardware while also making improvements in quality and cost. In his former role as Senior Vice President of Global Operations at Fluidigm, he successfully led strategic initiatives to increase production of its mass-cytometry technology, and improve the customer experience through operational efficiencies, enhanced infrastructure and streamlined execution.
“Running global operations at a company that is scaling as fast as Velo3D is an incredible challenge, but Brad is well suited to help us reach the next level given his extensive background working with growing companies that provide highly sophisticated hardware,” said Buller. “I look forward to seeing Brad optimize our operations to accelerate the production of our Sapphire and Sapphire XC printers, increase our manufacturing capabilities, and reach our production goals for 2023 and beyond.”
In his new role overseeing production, Kreger will lead all operations activities at Velo3D, including global logistics, manufacturing, quality, and procurement. Kreger will also be responsible for managing partnerships with key suppliers while automating planning and procurement processes.
“Velo3D is in a unique position, as its metal additive manufacturing technology is experiencing increasing demand to meet the needs of its customers,” said Kreger. “I’m thrilled to join such an innovative company that is transforming so many important industries in meaningful ways. I am confident we will be successful in increasing the production of the Sapphire family of printers and navigating the growth we’re forecasting in the coming year.”
Since shipping its first production printers in 2019, Velo3D has seen strong growth year-over-year. The company is currently ramping up the production volume of its latest Sapphire XC printer, which provides one of the biggest build volumes in the laser powder bed fusion class of metal 3D printers. In 2023, Velo3D is aiming to increase production of the Sapphire XC printer and lower costs. Scaling the company’s operations team with the hiring of Kreger will support Velo3D’s growth goals and further strengthen its position as the leader in growth within the additive manufacturing industry.
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