By taking advantage of the features of 3ntr A2v4 printer, ITI Industriale is gaining operational flexibility both in the design and construction of its awnings. All this while also cutting time and costs.
There are relatively simple inventions, behind which considerable technological challenges actually lie. If we think about awnings for the automotive field, for example, ITI Industriale is a company that has a lot to say.
Founded in 1965, it began its business working alongside brands such as FIAT and Alfa Romeo, and then extended its offer to vehicles from other sectors. Today ITI Industriale designs and produces solutions for agricultural and earthmoving machinery, as well as for the heavy transport of goods and people, all with both standard and universal solutions and customized for specific brands and markets.
A quality choice
The awning market is very dynamic: it must follow the release of new vehicle models and adapt the offer accordingly. The ability to design and create everything in-house is a plus that ITI Industriale makes available to its customers, guaranteeing speed and low costs. As the sector evolves, however, requests also change and new technologies are needed: for this reason, a few years ago, the company equipped itself with a 3D printer to create some prototypes.
“The first printer we purchased was complex to set up and maintain” explains Adrian Estrada, from the technical office of ITI Industriale. ““After a few years we therefore decided to look for a solution that was both high-performance, easy to use and did not require constant maintenance. We became aware of 3ntr’s offer, which seemed consistent with our requests, and we decided to evaluate its characteristics. We therefore proposed the printing of some very complex details and the results obtained satisfied us to the point that we decided to purchase the A2v4 model with three extruders”. ”.
Easy to use and immediately operational
The first impact with the new 3D printer proved to be more than satisfactory for ITI Industriale. “They sent a qualified technician to install it, show us how it works, explain basic maintenance and use of the accompanying software” adds Estrada. “They followed us from start to finish, and in a short time we became completely independent; when I needed to contact the technicians for practical doubts or for new projects, they still proved to be fast and decisive”.
The A2v4 printer works within ITI Industriale in two distinct areas: in the design area and in production. For design, it proved useful for testing details for different designs at the assembly level, all using materials with similar characteristics to those of the final products. In production, the A2v4 3D printer is used to create equipment and positioning templates useful for the subsequent assembly of the awning
“Previously we were forced to use traditional technologies, such as chip removal machine tools: a slow and expensive approach” admits Estrada.“Also, with the 3D printer we can launch a print and only check from time to time that the process is proceeding as expected. Sometimes you don’t even need that: we launch the work in the evening, before leaving the office, and find the components ready the next morning! Compared to CNC machines, another clear difference is that you do not need to have a dedicated operator”. ”.
The right software to get immediate results
In ITI Industriale they use the accompanying software provided by 3ntr: SSI in its latest release. The advantage is that in this way, regardless of the materials used, the parameters are provided by the software itself.
“If you don’t know the characteristics of a material, the first few times you have to experiment to get a well-made print” continues Adrian Estrada. “SSI, on the other hand, includes a database with many materials and related parameters: it is not difficult to obtain the desired result from the first print, with obvious benefits in terms of time, costs and use of energy and materials”.
Further growth for the future
What’s in the future of ITI Industriale? For now they are enjoying the benefits of using 3D printing obtained thanks to the 3ntr solution, but there is no shortage of ideas for further developments.
““We would also like to try to use materials with more advanced technical characteristics: the ones we use now are excellent for our current applications, but we would like to try to create test molds with polyurethane resin castings, in order to simulate plastic injection components in terms of resistance and aesthetic finish, creating small productions to perform tests or aesthetic components for the first approvals by the customer. In this way we could further contain the costs of producing parts and cut times, with clear cascading benefits along the entire process ”.
