Voices of the stakeholders

Could you please provide a description of the AM-related services that your company can provide and how did you get involved in the AMICE project? 

The company, called Superfici, is a young startup based in the Ligurian territory (north-west Italian coast, ndr) with a great passion for the nautical and naval industry. Our mission is to provide practical aids to designers and engineers when developing new products, with the clear intent to leverage additive manufacturing technologies for SME based in our region. We strongly collaborate with the University of Genoa and with local businesses, for AM-related research and development of innovative concepts. In brief, our strength is the capability to produce physical models through the use of rapid prototyping (3D print) for the direct verification of both morphological and functional characteristics.

We address a wide audience of customers made up of companies, architects and designers operating in the transportation, construction and mechanical industry sectors. In addition, our peculiarity is a strong connection with nautical and naval companies. We joined the AMICE team upon the invitation of Prof. Giovanni Berselli, an Advisory Board Member for Additive Manufacturing in the Project and also a teacher in the same University where I obtained my Master Degree.

How did the AMICE project help your business? Do you think the project has been beneficial in promoting your company and finding new colorations?

At the beginning, the project helped us promoting am interesting case study concerning a 3D printed Bridge for Yachts. In particular, the project started as a collaboration of Superfici Scrl and Armer Yachts from San Remo. The company Armer Yachts has been at the very top of the Nautical Industrial Sector since long time and provides a long-standing expertise in Yacht design and commissioning, along with clear investments plans in innovation and sustainability.

In parallel, my company has the clear intent to enter the Nautical market sector as a provider of Additive Manufacturing Services. The synergy between these actors has allowed us to conceive a unique idea: the Bridge of Amer 94’ Yachts (details can be found on our website, www.superficilab.com) is de facto the very first 3D printed prototype realized in 1:1 scale and actually installed on the Yacth itself. The manufactured parts are entirely produced via FDM and they have also been optimized (design-wise) for 3D printing purposes.

As an additional potential benefit, my team is now exploring the possibility to employ recycled PET materials for 3D printed parts. Within this scenario, the AMICE project got us in touch with other R&D institutions in Central Europe that are active in the field and very opened to collaborations. These “points-of-contact” are surely valuable for my business.

For what concerns your region (i.e. Liguria – Italy), are you aware of other companies which are investing in Additive Manufacturing?

It is clear the Additive Manufacturing is changing the way products are conceived, designed and produced. Several companies are surely investing in this technology. Nonetheless, as I said before, the strength of my company is that we are extremely dynamic and passionate about our job and we have gained a lot of experience in the nautical sector, which is indeed one of kind. I can surely foresee a very bright future for Superfici! And also an increased level of collaboration with all our new academic partners.

Read another Interview with Guido Zannoni: Part#1

More information: www.superficilab.com