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 nnovation is not a one-off event, but a continuing response to changing circumstances. Ideally, it does not just solve a problem but creates new capacity, opening up opportunities for further innovation.
United we stand
In Treviso, northern Italy, the introduction of advanced rapid prototyping and tooling (RPT) and time compression engineering (TCE) technologies has enabled a group of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to offer large manufacturers a faster, more flexible and higher-quality service by integrating complementary skills. Designers, mould-makers and injection moulders are learning to work with their customers in an entirely new way, as 'co-designers' and 'co-engineers' rather than as mere subcontractors.
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The Club RP project has helped to establish a European rapid prototyping and tooling network to market advanced design and engineering services. |
These changes - organisational and methodological as much as technical - are already giving Treviso's 'plastics district' access to new, high-value contracts. Now, Treviso is working with similar districts in Germany, Spain and Portugal to refine and benchmark the RPT and TCE schemes(1).
"Growing demand for highly differentiated, small-series production and continuing pressure to reduce time to market are revolutionising the industrial product design process," explains Donato Bedin, Director of Treviso Tecnologia, which leads the project. "At the same time, production is being globalised. Few SMEs will be able to survive the competitive pressures alone. We want to turn this threat into an opportunity by equipping small companies to maintain their competitiveness as part of a knowledge-intensive, technologically advanced district-wide industrial system."
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The adoption of stereolithographic rapid prototyping technology has enabled Treviso's ski boot manufacturers to produce smaller series and introduce new designs more quickly, helping them to retain a 75% share of the world market. |
Speed to market
The project's technical aspects involve the shared use of three-dimensional modelling data exchanged via the Internet - cutting out many stages of the traditional prototyping process. But according to its co-ordinator, Osvaldo Carlon, it is not the communication technology itself but the way it is used which presents the greatest challenge.
"Linking machines is relatively easy, but the interfaces between the working methods of different companies are much harder to manage," he says. "Efficient procedures for clarifying the business relationships are essential. For transnational collaboration, multi-point video-conferencing will be vital, but it takes time for technical people to learn to communicate effectively this way."
As well as exchanging good practice, the four districts taking part in the project plan to launch a joint marketing initiative based on a 'RP&Tnet' quality mark. "As subcontractors, our districts compete with one another. But they also have different design and engineering know-how," Bedin explains. "We hope to bring together these complementary capacities to undertake large contracts for major manufacturers jointly."
Treviso Tecnologia also plans to transfer the collaborative scheme to the district's furniture-making and electrical good sectors. The project is developing a model of good practice for sustainable regional innovation which is widely applicable.
(1) Project RSE5137 - Club Rapid Prototyping.
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2. KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS
