Rob Acton joins Equispheres to build partnerships in North America

Equispheres, a company focused on aluminum powders for additive manufacturing, continues to expand its leadership team to solidify its position in the North American market. Rob Acton, a seasoned expert in high-performance metals, has assumed the role of Vice President Sales – North America. With over 15 years of experience working with industries such as aerospace, transportation and energy, Acton brings deep industry knowledge.

“Equispheres’ powders are designed for serial additive production, and nobody knows that business as well as Rob,” says Kevin Nicholds, CEO of Equispheres. “As we increase our capacity in North America, he will apply his knowledge and experience to help our clients and partners grow their additive parts production.”

Acton sees great potential in additive manufacturing and points to the benefits of Equispheres materials, which reduce production costs, enable rapid design iterations and deliver consistency for serialized applications.

“I’ve had success working with partners to enable their production goals using additive manufacturing in demanding, critical end-markets. I know Equispheres’ materials can drive production costs down, enable rapid design iteration, and deliver the consistency needed for serial production applications,” Acton says. “There are many opportunities out there for a high-quality North American source of aluminum powders. We can be competitive with established manufacturing processes, achieve complex geometries that weren’t possible before, and show our customers the true potential of additive manufacturing.”

In addition to personnel changes, Equispheres 2024 has taken significant steps to expand its production capacity. A successful CAD 20 million financing round led by Martinrea International, a leading supplier to the automotive industry, is being used to install new reactors and expand the production facilities in Ottawa. In addition, two former EOS executives, Sascha Rudolph and Adrian Keppler, have joined the company to further sharpen its strategic focus.

“Rob is a solutions-oriented individual with a great understanding of the manufacturing sector in the United States,” says Evan Butler-Jones, Vice-President Product & Strategy with Equispheres. “He shares our desire to make additive manufacturing more productive and reliable.”

Equispheres’ aluminum powders enable faster build times without sacrificing the mechanical properties of the printed parts. The company thus aims to improve the productivity and reliability of additive manufacturing and establish it as a key technology for series applications in demanding markets.