Strategic plan for the development of a digital factory in Northern Italy

Alessandro CHIOLERIO, Politronica Srl

Since the advent of the steam engine (first industrial revolution) the technical and economical feasibility of products shaped the market, giving rise in the following two centuries to the actual mass promotion, distribution and consumption model. In the last forty years we experienced a rebirth of craftsmanship oriented to new local and specific markets. 3D printing, the digital manufacturing born in the ‘80s, since 2010 symbol of a new economy (as well as a social model) in the U.S.A., is rapidly growing and bringing into the market of physical items what is already feasible in a similar way by means of images, videos and music.

Unico&Replicabile strategy is to become by the end of 2017 the first 3D printing operator in Northern Italy, able to provide limited and personalized series of objects. Through its partners Politronica, responsible of the R&D for the release of a powered version of its proprietary FDM printer Qubit3D, and Polìpo, responsible for the development of a proprietary fully biodegradable thermoplastic polymer from vegetal non-dietary oils, a network of 300 printers will be capillarly deployed on a territory hosting 30 million inhabitants, guaranteeing a diffused just-in-time / km0 response for all designers, architects, engineers, students, professionals necessities.

The present talk will provide a short overview of our strategic model, of the challenges of functional printing that could be addressed trough nanotechnology and of the environmental awareness that lies behind our solutions.

 
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