Rapid Fusion targets €1m Italian expansion after signing exclusive agreement with Aivox

An Exeter-based large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) specialist is targeting a €1 million global expansion after it put pen to paper on a new deal with Aivox. Rapid Fusion, which is already supplying its solutions to customers in Australia, Dubai, Greece and the US, is looking to break into the Italian market by joining forces with one of the country’s leading innovation and technology experts.

An exclusive partnership agreement has been signed that will see the two firms work together to showcase the UK firm’s range of LFAM systems to clients involved in building architecture, fashion, medtech and the vast Italian naval market. Discussions are at an advanced stage with several potential customers, while the Zeus robotic system is on its way to Monza for installation on rails at Aivox’s dedicated lab. The system will see use in live demonstrations, customer trials and product development support for projects already underway by the 15-strong team of Italian engineers.

“This is a very exciting moment for our business and takes us into a new European territory that’s on the verge of really embracing large format additive manufacturing and all the speed, quality and design flexibility it gives you,” reflects Jake Hand, founder and CEO of Rapid Fusion. “Having Aivox on board is a massive coup. It’s one of Italy’s leading innovation consultancies and a company that thrives on delivering new solutions to real-world engineering problems.”

He continues: “The facility in Monza also has an amazing development lab that acts as a prototyping/new product introduction nerve centre for clients. It’s a fantastic environment to house Zeus and our other solutions as the relationship develops.”

The partnership began last year when Aivox’s Matteo Lomaglio and Francesco Perego initiated discussions around developing custom LFAM solutions based on Rapid Fusion’s PE320 extruder technology. Discussions quickly progressed and, following a visit to the Exeter demonstration centre to see the full range of 3D printing solutions, it was agreed that an exclusive relationship would benefit both parties.

The move will see the Italian company use, market and integrate Zeus, Apollo, Medusa and Cerberus (a deployable containerised system for use in remote locations) into custom large-format additive manufacturing solutions for its industrial clients.

“Aivox’s team has extraordinary technical knowledge and can provide full end-to-end bespoke hardware and software solutions,” adds Jake. “They also have great industrial DNA from being part of the LITIX Group. We believe there’s a €1 million opportunity by the end of this year and – from there – who knows? The potential is huge in Italy for our technology.”

Aivox CEO Francesco Perego takes up the story: “Our approach is to work at the intersection of design, software and manufacturing, which gives us a fantastic opportunity to identify and embed Rapid Fusion’s solutions into our work and with customers in Italy.”

Fellow CEO Matteo Lomaglio continues: “Traditionally, there’s been slow adoption of 3D printing in our market, but this is changing. We believe now is the right time to help educate the market and demonstrate what can be achieved with LFAM. Speed, repeatable quality, ease of iteration and an increasingly wide material portfolio has seen it move from a prototyping to a powerhouse of manufacturing.”