Made in Italy and new technologies, the future is already here and the artisans know it

 There are no limits to the possibilities. This is the idea Confartigianato (the general confederation of Italian crafts) suggested to its members during the meeting “3D Design and Rendering”, which took place on Tuesday 10 December at the association’s offices in Tradate, as part of the “Workshop of Ideas”, an event that gathers the initiatives of Confartigianato Imprese Varese in the digital field.

The participants in the meeting, designers, engineers, graphic designers, dental technicians and artisans, were given a demonstration of the potential provided by new software for creating virtual images of objects in 3D. Once a design has been approved, the next step is moulding the object, using a 3D printer, of course.

“We’ll soon be opening a digital workshop,” said Angelo Bongio of Confartigianato, “in which all of the necessary tools will be available, from software to 3D printers, in order to design and realise new ideas. It will be a workshop, in which there are not only technologies, but also the opportunity to share ideas, skills and knowledge. It will be known as digital manufacturing, and it is what people from the United States to Europe, are counting on to relaunch all areas of the manufacturing sector.

Workshops, where, on paying an annual membership fee, it will be possible to access spaces equipped with technologies. Cost cutting, reducing times and creating networks are the objectives of the digital workshop.

“Confartigianato Varese set off on this road the day after the congress last May,” Bongio continued. “We’ve organised a number of initiatives for our members, intended for this sector. Now we want to go further, and organise specific courses.”

Umberto Rega, the head of training, explained this last point better. “Two basic courses will soon begin, one to learn about Key Shop, a very powerful program that allows you to create very effective presentations of a product; the other course will be to learn how to use Rhinoceros, a program that allows you to design in 3D.” The courses will be organised in such a way as to cover both the south and the north of the province, and will be held, predictably, in Busto Arsizio and Varese.

During the evening, Riccardo Pietro Visentin, who is considered a pioneer in the use of these technologies, also gave a demonstration of the programs. “It’s an accessible future and we’re not behind. We’re growing and the number of digital artisans in Varese Province is increasing.” Visentin sees an opportunity to set up a series of services, like dynamic testing of prototypes, which would allow cutting all costs, which would otherwise require more testing and so greater expenses.

Outside the meeting, a number of participants expressed a lively interest in the topic. “I already knew this software,” said the owner of Morigi, “but an update is certainly useful.” Ambrogio Novati, an artisan active in the carpentry sector added, “The initiative is certainly interesting and this is the future. Now let’s see what practical applications it has.”

Two high school science students attended the meeting. “We’re interested in everything about fab labs and makers,” they said. “This is why we’ve put the topic forward at school, for a serious discussions about it.”

The meeting yesterday evening in Tradate was part of a project in which the Varese branch of Confartigianato has been involved in the last few months: the visit by some of our firms to the Maker Faire in Rome (the first of its kind in Europe); the presentation of “Making is connecting”, the latest book by the British sociologist David Gauntlett (with a presentation by Stefano Micelli), in which the innate qualities of the Made in Italy label and of craftsmanship are highlighted: creativity, flexibility, dynamism, uniqueness of the products; and finally the courses dedicated to various commodity sectors on digital, social, media marketing.