Innovative Design and Sustainability in Small and Medium Enterprises
SMEs often face challenges in adopting advanced design methodologies due to limited resources or expertise. Our research addresses this gap by creating practical, seamlessly integratable solutions tailored for existing corporate environments.
Key Objectives:
- Promote sustainable practices throughout the product development lifecycle of SMEs.
- Strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of SMEs in dynamic markets.
- Improve product quality and optimizing cost efficiency.
- Accelerate development cycles to shorten time to market.
This project contributes to both academic research and practical applications by providing structured methodologies that guide the entire development process, from concept to detailed design. In addition, it offers a framework of tools (theoretical, AI-based, and others) and principles to support SMEs in key activities throughout the new product development process. These resources help SMEs develop more sustainable products, enhance quality, reduce time to market, and foster innovation in industry environments.
This project is part of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) DM 352/2022, under the theme “From Research to Enterprise”. It aims to develop and implement innovative design methodologies to enhance the New Product Development (NPD) process for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
Functional Design for Additive Manufacturing
The primary objective of this research is the development of high-performance components for the industrial, athletic, and biomedical sectors. These components are characterized by functionally graded properties, achieved by locally varying attributes such as color, conductivity, and mechanical performance.
By developing innovative design methodologies, it will be possible to produce components using additive manufacturing technologies. These methods optimize material composition and distribution to minimize both energy consumption and raw material usage during production.
The proposed methodologies, applied to a series of case studies identified by industrial partners, will culminate in the creation of technological demonstrators. These prototypes will serve to validate the research and facilitate the dissemination of results.
This project is funded by the Veneto Region under Regional Government Decree (D.G.R.) No. 231 of March 10, 2020, within the framework of D.G.R. No. 1463 of October 8, 2019: “Innovation and research for a more competitive Veneto – Research Grants Year 2019” The initiative is part of the 2014-2020 European Social Fund Regional Operational Programme, specifically under the general objective “Investment for Growth and Jobs,” Priority Axis 1 – Employability.