22-24 February: three days at the Oval Lingotto in Turin to highlight the potential and capabilities of technological innovation, not only Italian. A&T has now become an international trade fair dedicated to important production chains, where different product sectors (Aerospace, Biomedical, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics, Automotive, Mechatronics, Mechanics, Food & Beverage, Packaging) find a way to get to know each other, to learn, to network, to bring ideas, to establish constructive comparisons, according to specific thematic focuses (Testing&Metrology, Smart Manufacturing, Logistics, Additive Manufacturing, Production Control, Process Control).

In 2022, our CEO Fulvio Boscolo was appointed National A&T Ambassador for Aerospace: with this role, for the whole of the past year LMA has been conducting a communication and corporate culture action all aimed at disseminating the essential criteria of innovation, sustainability and synergy that the new market requires us to know and embrace, in order not to be excluded from the prospects that the future is anticipating.

With the 2023 edition of the A&T Fair, LMA has made an even clearer choice of field: it has decided to put its know-how and skills at the service of the A&T Events organisation, to participate in the drafting of the Aerospace sector’s conference content line.

This is why we were not only at the Fair with an exhibition stand, but also participated in several conferences; in some of them we also reported and then coordinated the discussions in 3 Thematic Working Tables that we proposed to the A&T audience.

• The LMA stand was conceived in collaboration with Caracol AM (a leading company in the additive manufacturing sector) and was coordinated by our internal R&D department, which is pursuing synergies and projects in AM.

On our stand, we presented our entire Aerospace core, especially the projects related to our HyFly drone, the RX2 and Q4X quadricopters, and all the company’s other R&D projects (hydrogen propulsion, additive designs to support Aerospace production and more, IT designs to support Production…).

Ambassador and CEO Fulvio Boscolo was interviewed by journalists from ClassNBC (Class Editori – Sky): our business model (production excellence, constant innovation, shared corporate culture) attracted the interest of many visitors and the media.

• Fulvio Boscolo also spoke at the opening Aerospace conference branded DAP (Distretto Aerospaziale Piemontese), together with other SMEs from various Italian Aerospace Districts, and with some of the main international OEMs in the sector (Leonardo, Thales Alenia Space, Avio Aero, Collins-Microtecnica, Mecaer).

Theme: ‘Aerospace and Innovation: opportunities and criticalities for a competitive development of the Italian aerospace supply chain’. The discussion served to identify existing situations and possible synergic strategies. The event was sponsored by the CTNA (National Aerospace Technology Cluster).

• Another, almost historic event followed: we gathered some of the Italian Aerospace Districts at the Turin Fairgrounds, under the patronage of CTNA, for a frank exchange of views on mutual activities and wishes for the future. Moderated, as in the previous meeting, by Il Sole 24 Ore journalist Filomena Greco, the speakers were DAP (Distr. Aerosp. Piemonte) President Fulvia Quagliotti, DAC (Distr. Aerosp. Campania) President Luigi Carrino, AIR (Aerospace Innovation & Research) President Federico Zoppas, Lombardy Aerospace Cluster President Angelo Vallerani, and Gate 4.0 (Tuscan Technological District) President Lorna Vatta.

Theme: ‘Aerospace and Innovation: new challenges and technological responses of the Italian aerospace supply chain’. The different structures and competences of each local District highlighted not only the need for good ‘direction’, but also the urgency of immediately creating synergies capable of going beyond the individual entrepreneurial fabrics.

• We also wanted to accompany the discussions at the two conferences with a large workshop table, with an approach that was no longer frontal, but circular. We set up 3 different Thematic Tables, where visitors could sign up to go into detail on the following three topics:

– True supply chain synergy: the relationship between OEMs and SMEs and the opportunities of the PNRR (moderator: Fulvio Boscolo, CEO of LMA);

– Research & Development: the interconnection between companies and the academic and research worlds (moderator: Davide Bassignana, R&D Engineer & AM Specialist at LMA)

– Innovation and Human Resources: the advancement of human and technological capital (mod. Elisabetta Cannarozzi, HR Manager at LMA).

Three tables to discuss openly with many voices the opportunities that the aerospace supply chain can have and implement. Open debates to compare ideas, experiences and proposals to better outline the Aerospace that the market wants, that entrepreneurs can create with courageous investments and that institutions can support with the right political choices.

Remaining in line with the technological focus conceived by A&T, we have included numerous initiatives, proposals, and ideas within two containers, innovation and skills, which we increasingly believe must be filled with a substantial business culture, real synergies, and constructive networks between various areas and sectors.