Arburg has won the international “Leonardo da Vinci” Award for acknowledge the design of the Freeformer, an innovative system for additive manufacturing. The company has received the prize on 17 March 2016 in Parma, Italy during the MECSPE trade fair, from Italian Association of Industrial Designers AIPI (Associazione Italiana Progettisti Industriali).
“I’m delighted to accept this coveted award on behalf of Arburg Italy. Our Freeformer is unique – both in terms of design and the numerous options that it offers to plastics processing companies for the additive manufacturing of fully-functional one-off parts and small batches,” said Managing Director Adriano Carminati at the award ceremony, which was held during the MECSPE trade fair in Parma, Italy.
Established by Italy’s AIPI association in 1981, the international “Leonardo da Vinci” Award is presented every two years to individuals and companies who have made a valuable contribution to design and technical innovation for the industry. In addition to Arburg, this year’s recipients included Italian engineer Aldo Costa, who has designed and developed 32 Formula 1 racing cars, the Helicopter Division of Finmeccanica, and cycling company Victoria.
In order to also achieve a high level of production efficiency during the production of small batches down to a single unit, Arburg complemented its Allrounder injection moulding machines with the Freeformer for additive manufacturing, which it introduced to the Italian market in 2015. The Freeformer uses an additive manufacturing process to produce fully-functional plastic parts from qualified standard granulates on the basis of 3D CAD data.
In 2014, the Freeformer already received the renowned Red Dot Award for “excellent product design”. Examples of how aesthetics and functionality have been combined include an easily accessible construction chamber with pivoting glass front, simple operating options and a fold-out PC with multi-touch screen mounted on the side. The clear, soft lines of the housing are reminiscent of modern telecommunications devices and are well suited for use in a design studio or laboratory environment. The fact that the overall concept is successful in visual terms is evidenced by the positive feedback from existing and prospective customers.