December 2023

On this last day of the year – Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and a Happy New Year! I’ll keep it brief – while I thought Twixtmas (new word learned for me this year) included oodles of time for personal projects (my wife’s taken up basket weaving), work, family, and food, I’ve found that time rather more constrained. 

That’s maybe because we’ve been busy signing AM clients right up until the end of the year (final signatures arrived today). So we don’t share the general industry pessimism (though we do share Alex’s point about the industry being overcapitalized). It’s exciting to see the value proposition of Flows, Materials Management and DDW  hitting a nerve in the industry. We’re now ready to start spreading Threads more broadly too.  

Last time we mentioned we were prepping for general release of Threads . While the big announcement is yet to come (outside our control for now), the tools are starting to make their way into general availability. You can now sign up for Threads yourself using the handy Create Workspace button on app.authentisethreads.com.

We have a free plan for those who want to try it. I don’t have to tell you what a big deal this is – coming from the additive industry where everything is discussed in spades before any action, learning how to engage with an audience that’s mostly anonymous is a pretty tall order. We’ll get there, step for step.

To make that trial even more intriguing, we’ve also integrated a bunch more third-party tools, including Google Drive, which allows you to sync the comments between Drive files and Threads, see the titles of documents and ensure that the conversation you’re having with your team in the Thread includes all the aspects it needs to succeed. 

Of course, we’re not losing sight of Flows either. There’s a lot more coming there in Q1, but for the time being, the team made some really impactful changes in the final moments of 2023, including:  

• Barcode Scanning: You heard that right – the QR app now does barcodes?! You can manage your parts, your machines and your materials using this app. Now with barcodes if you don’t like the QR codes we’ve been using.

• Sensitivity Warning: One of the few features I hadn’t even heard about before writing this note. Now your team will be even better informed when they’re handling parts that have information controls such as export restrictions place on them. 

So, as you can see, busy times despite the holiday break. While I did see a few folks online this week I generally expected them only when they needed an excuse to get away family 😉. I’m glad they took a break. They need to fill up on energy, ready for a busy 2024 – because we, for one, remain optimistic about the demand for workflow software that shortens the time from idea to part. That’s just one example of a prediction we’ve made for various journals. I’ll try and summarize those in a separate post. For now, I’ve already taken way too much of your time. Enjoy what’s left of 2023, and Happy New Year! 🍾