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Aiming to continue its turnaround effort, 3-D printer maker 3D Systems on Monday named one of the biggest names in traditional printing as its chief executive.
Vyomesh Joshi led Hewlett-Packard’s printing unit and other operations during a 31-year tenure at the tech giant that ended with his 2012 exit. Joshi takes over after 3D Systems ousted CEO Avi Reichental in October.
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In an interview, Joshi said he is looking to fix product quality and operational issues at the company as well as make sure that 3D Systems is ready to lead as three-dimensional printing evolves beyond prototypes and moves into making goods suitable for real-world use, an area focused on by rival Carbon, which started shipping its M1 printer last week.
Joshi said he sees great potential in specific markets, including the health care, aerospace and automotive industries. But businesses in those areas don’t just want a product, they want to know they can keep the machines up and running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We have to look at our services approach to B2B (business-to-business) and make sure we excel there,” Joshi said. “That’s the work we will be doing.”
Joshi said the past four years he has spent advising startups and serving on various boards will come in handy in the new role.
“I really learned a lot about big data, robotics, augmented reality and all kinds of stuff,” he said. “Then this opportunity came and I said wow, this is perfect.”
Joshi has plenty of work ahead. Beyond improving the company’s reputation for quality, Joshi said the 2,500-employee company has a fragmented culture as a result of many, many acquisitions.
“They acquired all these companies but now they have different cultures,” Joshi said.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
