InnovationManager

An innovation manager turns a technological ambition into an executable plan: they analyse the current state of product, process and skills, build a roadmap with timings, costs and owners, identify the available sources of funding, and follow execution through to production. In an SME this is often the missing role between management, engineering and the shop floor.

The routes most used by Italian manufacturers are the tax credit for research, development and innovation, the measures supporting the digital and energy transition, the Nuova Sabatini scheme for capital equipment, and chamber of commerce and regional calls. Each measure has its own requirements, caps and reporting obligations, and these change over time: eligibility must be checked against the specific project before committing resources.

It pays off when the geometry is complex, volumes are low to medium, the part can be lightened or consolidated from several components into one, or when internal channels are needed that machining cannot produce. It does not pay off on simple geometries in large series, where die casting, MIM or bar machining remain cheaper. The answer comes from comparing the full part cost — material, machine, post-processing and inspection — against real annual volumes.

Binder jetting deposits a binder onto a powder bed and the part acquires its mechanical properties during sintering, with a shrinkage of roughly 20% that has to be managed; it needs no supports and lets you nest parts in three dimensions, so unit cost falls as quantity rises. LPBF melts the powder with a laser and produces fully dense parts, but requires supports and heat treatment, and machine time depends on the exposed area. Binder jetting is geared to series production, LPBF to high-value individual parts.

For metal: binder jetting, LPBF/SLM, 3- to 5-axis CNC, lost-wax investment casting, die casting and metal injection moulding. For polymers and technical ceramics: vacuum casting, MJF, SLS, SLA and DLP. Technologies are compared on the real component in terms of economic batch size, available materials, achievable tolerances and part cost.

The office is in Ferrara, Italy, at Via Comacchio 905. Consulting, training and commercial support are delivered throughout Italy, both on the client's premises and remotely, in Italian and English.

The starting point is about an hour of discussion on a concrete problem: a component to assess, an investment to decide, a sales process that keeps stalling. For a first technical indication, the 3D model of the part and the expected annual volumes are usually enough. Write to filippobonora@bonoratech.com.