ATLIX Taps Ex-EOS Executive to Lead Metal AM Push Into Asia-Pacific

Metal additive manufacturing company ATLIX is making its first serious move into the Asia-Pacific region. The company has appointed Christopher Schmitz to lead its APAC commercial efforts, a role that will involve building a dedicated sales team across one of the fastest-growing markets for metal AM.

Schmitz is based in Japan. For the past five years he worked at EOS, where he was part of the Additive Minds technical consulting unit. That group helps industrial customers turn additive manufacturing concepts into repeatable, production-ready applications. His work there focused on aerospace and advanced manufacturing clients who needed to move from prototype to serial production.

Why APAC Now

Matthias Himmelsbach, CEO of ATLIX, framed the appointment as part of a broader international push. Europe and the Americas remain the company's core markets, but the leadership sees too much momentum in APAC to ignore. The metal AM sector across that region has shifted from feasibility testing to real production scaling, and ATLIX wants a seat at that table before the field gets crowded.

Schmitz echoed that view: the conversation in APAC has fundamentally changed. Customers are no longer asking whether additive manufacturing can work at scale. They are asking which suppliers can actually deliver consistent quality at volume.

What It Means for Buyers

For industrial buyers evaluating metal AM suppliers, ATLIX's APAC expansion creates a new option. The company recently rebranded its machine portfolio as xBUILD, replacing the older TruPrint name, and hired Charlie Grace as President and Chief Revenue Officer earlier this week. Taken together, these moves suggest ATLIX is in an aggressive growth phase and is willing to invest in regional infrastructure, not just export machines from Europe.

Schmitz starts with a blank-slate mandate: build a regional sales organisation from the ground up. That is a long-term commitment, not a token office. Buyers in Japan, South Korea, Australia, and Southeast Asia should expect to see ATLIX at local trade shows and in direct sales conversations by early 2027.

Source: TCT Magazine