I know it is just a matter of advanced electronics and mechanics but Arcam’s EBM industrial 3D printing technology is just cool. EBM — or Electron Beam Melting — which in Italian sounds even cooler (fusione a fascio di elettroni), is one of the most advanced metal additive manufacturing techniques. So when I found out there was one in Italy — the only one available for third party AM services that I know of — I had to see it at work. Turns out it is really close to where I’ve been spending my summer holidays for the last 10 years. I contacted them, and of course I got a reply on the day I arrived.
Like I said, Proto Service, is the only Italian 3D printing service providers that I know of with an Arcam Q10 on its premises. It is located in Fornovo, in the hills right outside Parma. The location is not casual: right around these parts are pretty much all the top Italian car and motorcycle manufacturers: Ferrari, Ducati, Augusta, to name a few and these are not Proto Service’s only customers, since the company also specializes in medical implants.
I had met Michele Antolotti, Proto Service’s young and extremely enthusiastic commercial and production coordinator, at MakeForum, an industry conference at Milan’s Politecnico where I had given a short presentation on 3D printing industry media. He welcomed me and my team (it ended up being four of us visiting) and we started talking about the industry’s and they’re own extremely rapid growth.
“We started with an EOSINT M270 then added an EOSINT M280,” Michele told us. “Now we have added the Arcam Q10 and the AM 250 laser melting system from Renishaw. Business has been extremely intense and we did not even close for the holidays this year.”
Proto Services has a staff count of 15 and is constantly investing in research, which is what the company’s philosophy is based on. It works with the University of Parma Industrial Engineering department to experiment with new materials.
“Aerospace is really taking off and so is automotive, especially around here,” says Michele, “but the one sector that is growing the fastest is medical implants. We work with Lima on Trabecular Titanium implants, which require the production capabilities of EBM machines.”
And there it is. Electron Beam Melting doesn’t just sound cool it is actually pretty awesome to watch. Unlike laser melting’s single laser light making sparks, it looks like electron fireworks hammering away at the metal powder. This time I actually made a video of it.
