In
Pontecchio Marconi, the lower hills of the Bologna Apennines, we find the
leading Italian company by capital and knowledge that produces 3D printers for
metal. A point of reference for metal additive technologies. Therefore from an
ingenious family intuition, a new success story in mechatronics was born. For
FARE INSIEME, Giampaolo Colletti interviewed Ivano Corsini, owner of 3D4MEC.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri e Francesca Aufiero
This is the
story of a father and son who decided to do something great together. A “crazy
yet beautiful” project, as they said. So, in 2016, Giuseppe Corsini, at the
proud old age of 78 and boasting a past as a Formula 1 tester, started to make
the first 3D printer prototype for metal together with his son Ivano, who had
the intuition a short time before. Both of them made it and so 3D4MEC was born.
A cryptic name, yet one that encloses that genius of an idea that is scaling
the market, i.e. a 3D technology for mechanics. But all of this is combined
with the concept of democratisation and therefore with a technology applicable
to multiple sector: aeronautics, aerospace, automotive.
Company profile. We are
in Pontecchio Marconi, a small town north of Sasso Marconi with fifteen
inhabitants in the lower hills of the Bologna Apennines. A lush and almost
magical place. Because, after all, it is here that we find huddled the stories
of companies that have made innovation their distinguishing mark. 3D4MEC is
among them. The company boasts five collaborators and a turnover of €1 million,
although forecasts treble these figures. Also because the number of clients is
growing: they ask for tests, functional prototypes, research focused on new
alloys and applications. After all, this is the first Italian company by
capital and knowledge (and its own patents) linked with the production of 3D
printers for metals, which has become a point of reference in Italy for metal
additive technologies: one of the first producers of 3D printers for metals
specialized in steel and brass. A great deal of ambition combined with a clear
vision. “Over the next few years, we aim at becoming leaders in Italy as well
as entering the foreign markets, first and foremost the UK and the US. I want
to democratise and make it easier and more practical to use this technology so
that it can be given the space it deserves. I want to introduce the concept of
print on demand for automation and packaging companies,” explains Ivano
Corsini, head of 3D4MEC. The objective is to hasten the production of metal
mechanical components, thus speeding up the production flow and the
time-to-market of mechanical products.
“We strived to achieve improved practicality and shorter working times
without compromising reliability and the repeatability of the process,”
stresses Corsini. Everything started in the mechanics and mechatronics sector
in 1963, in Giuseppe’s first workshop right after he parted with the F1 world. Over the years, he went from racing and
custom-built cars to a phone dialler,
passing through railway signalling, mammography and medical radiology,
paper systems and packaging automations. “Let's say that every single
experience came in handy for the 3D4MEC project. I am not being funny, they may
seem like different markets but, to us, it is always about mechanics and
electronics, i.e. mechatronics,” says Corsini. After the 2008 crisis, the need
was to find a solution to make production more flexible, producing multiple
prototypes of different sizes and geometries faster than our Chinese
competitors. But the market lacked specialist solutions for the manufacturing
of mechanical components. Thus 3D4MEC was born.
Guinness
record products. “The secret? Internal know-how and a close collaboration with
the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and professor Andrea Gatto, one of
the maximum experts of additive processes in Italy. The first 3D printer in the
world capable of producing components directly made of brass was born. Then
came the first printer in the world specialized in processing steel and
offering practicality, flexibility and production speed combined with the
maximum safety. Every printer is customised based on the needs of each client,”
stresses Corsini. For this Emilian entrepreneur, many people still do not
understand technology and the mechanical industry still believes it can obtain
what it used to. But they are becoming more aware, They are starting to see the
glass half full. After all, optimism is the key to make things truly happen.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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