Federico Ercoli attended the 3DEXCITElive in Munich to find out the latest 3D solutions for manufacturers
My high school days were filled with travel. Our principal firmly believed that what we did outside the classroom mattered as much as what we did inside of it. Cultural trips, student exchange programmes, religious and sport retreats were all a part of my education.
So when my father met him during my third year, he asked him, “Shouldn’t they be studying more instead of spending all this time wandering around?” The principal, clearly an enlightened man, replied, “Absolutely. They have to, but they also have to experience things. It’s all about experiences.”
I wouldn’t really use the word “satisfied” to describe my father’s mood after that meeting, but years later he finally realised the principal was definitely on to something.
The world is rapidly changing and now more than ever experiences are tied to people by a change-and-shape vicious circle. Experiences change people and people shape experiences. So, when packing for the two-day 2015 3DEXCITElive event in Munich, I was curious and secretly hoped to see everything but 3D printing technologies.
After landing at the astonishingly beautiful Franz Josef Strauss airport, Germany was kind enough to greet me with that grey sky and light rain I almost felt at home. The only difference being weiss beer tasted better.
The next day, on my way to the venue, the words used by Roberto Schettler, CEO at 3DEXCITE, in the letter sent to journalists to introduce the event echoed at the back of my brain, “An event full of powerful visual experiences.”
It only took a few minutes and a short walk from the reception to the first pavilion to realise he meant every word of it. At the press conference, I wasn’t surprised to hear chief strategy officer for Dassault Systèmes, Monica Menghini, saying: “We are in a new era where it’s crucial to find the new stream of technology. Marketing is now a management concept and that’s why we are re-defining marketing in the age of experience.”
To discover how Dassault Systèmes has enacted this holistic approach in regards to the latest 3D technologies introduced, I had a chat with Mr. Schettler. “There’s a whole bunch of different new additions to our portfolio. Most importantly, it’s about how we segment the solutions,” said Schettler.
“In the past we have been relying on a set of different solutions that are being re-purposed across all industries and by now we basically have re-focused our portfolio and have introduced an industry segmentation that really helps us to focus on the specific needs of the industries. That includes automotive, aerospace and will include industries like consumer goods, industrial equipment and many others going forward.”
From interactive shopping windows for auto retailers to incredibly accurate virtual crash test simulators and 3D reproductions of aircrafts’ cabins for hostesses and stewards in training, the solutions go beyond sales and marketing applications. By testing some of the technology introduced, I couldn’t but marvel and think my principal was some 15 years ahead of his time.
