3ntr and the Importance of Continual Innovation in 3D Printing

When it comes to Italian-made excellence in 3D printing, there is one name in particular which often stands out. 3ntr is a family-owned company that was founded over 60 years ago as Jdeal-Form. However, under the name 3ntr, it has been involved in additive manufacturing since 2010, building multi-material, extrusion solutions for a variety of different sectors including automotive, aviation, and medical, among others. One of the ways the company has made its mark on the industry is through its commitment to research and analysis, always seeking to improve its solutions as well as offering everything that the customer could need, from material to software. We spoke to Davide Ardizzoia, the CTO of 3ntr, to learn about why they got started in 3D printing, their solutions and applications and more.

3DN: Could you introduce yourself and 3ntr?

It’s quite interesting actually. Before 12 years ago I never had any exposure to 3D printing. Of course, I had been exposed to automotive, design, construction and so on. But the company had no point of contact with additive manufacturing until 2010 when we started using it for some parts for power machinery.

Davide Ardizzoia, the CTO of 3ntr

Back then the technology was still quite exotic. And we were drawn to it for a simple reason. Our supplier was constantly late and we had always had issues because the parts we were sourcing were functional parts. At this point we decided to do it on our own. We told ourselves, look we are already making machinery, why don’t we make our own 3D printer to make some of these parts. And after six months we put together a functional 3D printer.