Lanulfi goes 3D

In today’s rapidly changing manufacturing landscape, incorporating advanced technologies like 3D printing offers significant advantages. Lanulfi Models S.r.l., a branch of Lanulfi Moulds, which is located close to Vicenza, is a leading provider of functional prototypes, resin molds, templates, and maquettes. By integrating voxeljet’s VX2000 for 3D sand printing, the Italian company is taking a pioneering step to enhance its production of molds and models for external metal casting.

Striving for Excellence

Lanulfi’s expertise especially lies in crafting detailed and precise molds for thermoforming, rotomolding, vacuumforming of injection molding products. Their models and prototypes are used in a wide range of industries, including automotive, agriculture, trucks & buses, as well as wellness or design products.

Since its inception, Lanulfi has been at the forefront of adopting new manufacturing technologies. They recognized the potential of 3D printing from the start and have since tested various technologies for different materials. When they saw a voxeljet VX2000 System at a customer’s facility, they immediately understood the advantages it could bring to their production processes. Lanulfi took the opportunity and in June 2024 the VX2000 was installed in their facility in Monticello Conte Otto in Italy, to support conventional model-making methods with the goal, to reduce the labor-intensive processes of milling, sanding, and assembling polystyrene models.

Embracing the VX2000

The most common method for creating molds and models from polystyrene or aluminum is CNC machining. However, the costs and lead times of production can be significant, especially for prototypes or small series. The VX2000 is the solution to Lanulfi’s reliance on CNC machines for modelmaking and foundry involvement to create sand molds. “This enables us to save up to 30 to 70% in lead time,” says Giovanni Colla, R&D Engineer at Lanulfi. “Now, we are utilizing 3D printing at least once a week. Not only because of the lead time, but also because it gives us more freedom of design and very good surface finishes and details in the cast part.”

Although the manufacturing costs were initially higher compared to traditional methods, the significant reduction in delivery times (30-70%) provided a competitive edge. Lanulfi was able to deliver the molds in just 2 to 3 weeks.
Mold sizes ranging up to 2000x1000x1000 mm
Thinnest section measured 10mm.

Project Management Insights

Lanulfi is certain that 3D printing will play a crucial role in applications such as prototyping and small series production. There is no doubt that 3D printing offers the greatest strengths in freedom of design and superior surface quality and detail compared to traditional techniques. However, they acknowledge weaknesses in the post-processing stage, where cleaning the parts can lead to damage, and the difficulty in handling large printed parts.

“The initial investment into 3D printing is significant, but we will see a return on that investment. The technology gives us the ability to produce more flexible and react faster, which will be most relevant in the future. Thanks to the VX2000 we’re able to offer lead times of 5 days compared to 15 days with traditional manufacturing”, explains Colla.