In June 2012, a laboratory kitted out with the latest equipment required to develop 3D digital models and rapid prototyping of new manufacturing products opened at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Kraljevo, south-west Serbia. ‘3D World’, the name which the laboratory goes by, was set up as part of the IMPuls project, designed to raise the competitiveness of manufacturing in the country’s southern central districts of Raška, Moravica and Rasina. Funded by a grant from the EU’s Regional Socio-Economic Development Programme 2, IMPuls focused its activities on transferring technological know-how in innovation at higher educational establishments in the region to 500 local manufacturing companies.
Innovation in manufacturing, both in terms of techniques employed and products developed, is of particular importance to this area of Serbia. While there are several hundred companies active in manufacturing – from industrial design and civil engineering to construction and medical equipment – many find it difficult to enter new markets at home and in the EU due to a lack of innovation and design in their products.
At the 3D World lab, it is now possible for professionals in the field to access a 3D scanner for reverse engineering modelling (a technology which analyses existing devices or systems to discover their original technological set-up) and a 3D printer for rapid prototyping of new products. Project Manager Dr Snežana Ćirić Kostić of the Faculty of Mechanical and Civil Engineering in Kraljevo says: “This rapid development technologies service is provided by the laboratory free of charge. The laboratory’s main task is, by the application of modern technologies for the rapid development of prototypes, to assist businesses in the fastest way to develop new products.”
Rapid product development
But the 3D World lab is by no means the only outcome of the IMPuls project, which ran for two years until June 2013. With its budget of nearly €900 000 – one of the largest grants to be awarded by the Regional Socio-Economic Programme 2’s scheme – the project also set up an online support service for innovation management and new product development to 500 regional manufacturing companies. It also ran a training course in rapid development technologies and innovation management for 300 managers and research and development personnel from 100 manufacturing companies.
Stimulation of innovation was further provided by the project through support to 100 companies in developing Computer-Aided Design Models in new and improved products and to 50 companies in producing 100 new product prototypes. These activities, conducted mostly by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Kraljevo and selected other higher educational faculties in the 3 districts, have helped to establish a much-needed regional public-private partnership to drive innovation in manufacturing in the area forward.
More information
Project: Innovation Management for new Products (IMPuls)
Implemented by: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Kraljevo – www.mfkv.kg.ac.rs
See also: Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna – www.unibo.it; Regional Chamber of Commerce Kraljevo – www.rpk-kraljevo.co.rs; City of Kraljevo – www.kraljevo.org; Regional Centre for Small and Medium Sized Enterprise Development, Kruševac – www.komoraks.co.rs
