This mould, and the plastic object injection-moulded with it, were displayed at Mecspe in the stand of Stratasys. The major producers of 3D printing systems exhibit at the fair trade their machines and several examples of what you can obtain with 3D printing.
At Mecspe, the international exhibition of innovation technologies that will be held next year from 17th to 19th March at Parma fairgrounds, they will set up a demo area dedicated to the 3D printing use in industrial ambit. We will have the opportunity of seeing the manufacturing flow that starts from modelling up to achieving the definitive item, passing through the mould making with additive technology and the injection moulding.
Mecspe goes on growing, also in the wake of what is nowadays defined Industry 4.0, the new manufacturing modality that involves seven key themes; additive manufacturing, Internet of things, augmented reality, virtual reality, robotics/artificial intelligence, nanotechnologies and social manufacturing. Several of these issues are widely treated in this international exhibition of innovation technologies that will be held next year from 17th to 19th March at Parma fairgrounds, but particular highlights will be on Additive Manufacturing, which today is known as 3D printing under all respects, to which is dedicated one of the nine Mecspe halls. The other halls included in the next edition are Macchine e Utensili (machine tools, tools and equipment, Fabbrica Digitale (informatics technologies for the management of a smart factory), Motek Italy (factory automation), Power Drive (systems, components and mechatronics), Control Italy (metrology and quality control), Logistica (systems for the management of logistics, machines and equipment), Subfornitura (subcontracting machining: plastic material machining, mechanical machining and sheet metal working) and Eurostampi (moulds and moulding). A format that has widely demonstrated to capture the public’s interest, as figures confirm: the 2015-edition was attended by 33,673 visitors walking among the stands of 1,281 exhibitors, 31 machining isles, 15 thematic quarters, 9 thematic showrooms, 10 excellence squares, overall 103 conventions and mini-conferences organized by companies, universities and research institutes
3D printing in the production flow
Much interest was aroused by 3D printing in all of its declinations, from the low-cost one of the suitable models for implementing especially visual test models up to high-end versions able to produce definitive parts of plastic and metal materials. In the demo area Manufacturing with 3D printing, in particular, the most innovative – but at the same time mature – technologies for a trouble-free integration into the production flow of small, medium and big companies – are used to show concretely how it is possible to start from a model to achieve the definitive ready-to-use item. The demo area, set up in the ambit of the Additive Manufacturing showroom but linked with Eurostampi due to their affinities, is subdivided into three zones. In the first, operates a standard computer on which run the necessary programmes for the 3D printing, from the CAD that has built the model of the object to be printed to the necessary software for its conversion into the suitable language for piloting the printer and for the file control. In the second zone a 3D industrial printer is operating, directly connected with the PC. It does not print directly the prototype but, to demonstrate a typical industrial flow in detail, it implements the mould that is then mounted on a standard injection press installed in the third demo area. Through this press, it is possible to achieve definitive items exploiting the standard materials of the injection technology, which can be directly released on the market or used as pre-series. Each of these zones is fully operational for the entire exhibition duration and then we can see the 3D printer that makes moulds, the injection press that moulds objects that can be taken by visitors as gadgets. Moreover: experts in modelling, 3D printing and injection moulding are at visitors’ disposal to answer any question concerning the additive manufacturing. Scheduled also speeches by mould makers that have already adopted this technology, which allows them to integrate their traditional activity with an additional instrument.
The other meetings dedicated to the additive manufacturing
In addition to Mecspe, in 2016 Senaf will organize other two meetings focused on additive manufacturing and 3D printing, to favour the relationships among the producers of machines for rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing, 3D printers, materials, scanners and 3D software with the professionals of the various industrial sectors interested in knowing the advantages of additive technologies. Exposanità, which will be held in Bologna from 18th to 21st May 2016, provides for a focus on the additive manufacturing and on 3D printing in the medical sector. From 7th to 9th June 2016 in Milan (Fieramilanocity) it will be held 3DPrint Hub and Additive Manufacturing Hub, a transversal event dedicated to the entire world of additive technologies and to the manifold destination sectors where these technologies find application.
This mould, and the plastic object injection-moulded with it, were displayed at Mecspe in the stand of Stratasys. The major producers of 3D printing systems exhibit at the fair trade their machines and several examples of what you can obtain with 3D printing.
