December is the time when we usually look back at work that has been done and set new milestones for ourselves. The IRT3000 magazine project has been additionally upgraded in the year coming to the end: we have published six issues for a total of almost thousand pages or, considering the weight of the arguments, more than three kilograms of professional material. The postmen have delivered approximately 24.000 copies or 13 tonnes of professional information, knowledge, data, advice, reports, articles and contributions. Furthermore, our IRT3000 magazine publishing project in Croatia that has been going on for a year has been accepted very well. Therefore we can claim this year as very fruitful for the IRT3000 magazine.

Unfortunately, at the end of this dynamic year the consequences of economic crisis have surfaced, a crisis that has already strongly affected Slovene economy and will continue to do so. At conferences, meetings and events, economists and businesspeople are debating about the possible measures of assistance that could be provided by the government. Questions arise on whether the industry and businesspeople are the cause or the victim of this financial crisis. By all means, the origin of crisis has to be sought in the American financial sector that was not controlled by anyone.

The companies will have to keep finding new opportunities, opening new markets, market niches and, above all, invest into new products. No company that wants to operate successfully can give up development and innovation, as this would lead in a matter of years (or, in worst-case scenario, in a matter of months) to a situation where they would not be able to return into the normal industry cycle which maintains and rewards successful companies.

It is exactly innovation and development that represent an unexploited opportunity to which we may have not devoted enough of our attention. We must forget about inventories or less successful solutions from the past and look into the future. We will only survive to see the future if our products, services and solutions get better – in the eyes of competition and in the eyes of customers who always have the last word.

Finally, I would like to wish to you in my name and in the name of the whole team and IRT3000 editorial board mostly a lot of energy in the new year, so you are able to carry out the tasks at hand with commitment and devotion, and then reap the fruits of your work with satisfaction at the end of the year... We wish you an innovatively successful, developmentally full and technologically accomplished year 2009!

Darko Švetak
IRT3000 Editor-In-Chief

From the content

Alja Gajšek, photo: Nik Jarh

At the 3rd Slovenian Innovation Forum which took place on October 21 and 22 in Cankarjev dom in Ljubljana the emphasis was placed on innovations having a positive influence on the climate change. The event was opened in this spirit by mag. Andrej Vizjak, former Minister of Economy.
Vizjak emphasised that only innovations taking into the account and responding in their own ways to climate change represent a concrete approach to this problem field. »Care for the environment should not only represent a cost to the enterprises, it can also be a competitive advantage. Especially small and medium sized companies can use their flexibility for a successful development in scope of new market niches, thereby becoming and remaining competitive – on the global market, too. The companies have to be innovative in all fields, from business processes to products and marketing,« said Vizjak at the extraordinary opening event that took place around an electro-mechanical BlackJack gaming machine produced by Elektronček. Directors of five most innovative companies (Pipistrel, Izoelektro, Indramat elektromotorji, Iskratel, Elektronček) presented their innovations and tried their luck on the gaming machine. Joc Pečečnik, one of the authors of this innovation, said this is the first BlackJack machine using real cards that is operating completely automatically.


Thematic unit:

Manufacturing technologies where products are created by adding material and/or energy into the process are gaining more and more recognition in the industrial environment. This is proven by many indicators, from the growth of sales of additive manufacturing equipment to new business models enabled by these technologies. Additive manufacturing technologies are distinguished by large technological value added, the independence of geometric complexity of product and manufacturing in a single phase. At the beginning, additive technologies were used exclusively in the fields of rapid prototyping and rapid tooling, and today they are increasingly spreading to rapid manufacturing; mainly in the fields where their advantages (geometric complexity, individual adaptation etc.) can be fully exploited: in medicine, sports and complex products like aeroplanes, aerospace technology and automotive sport. New business models are emerging that are sometimes not even based on additive technologies and arise from a way of thinking that has spread around the industrial environment with the development of additive technologies and IT. For example, 10 percent of all sports footwear from Adidas is custom made for a known customer and hearing aids are mainly custom-made using additive technologies.

Dr. Igor Drstvenšek

The board for science and technology at the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia is successfully fulfilling its main mission – the linking of science and R&D sphere with the small enterprises. This time, the board has organised the Nanotechnology day where the experts from R&D institutions and science presented the use of nanotechnologies, nanomaterials, nanocomposites and nanocoatings in the textile industry, wood industry, construction, glass industry, plastics processing and electronics. The event took place on October 16 2008 at the Chamber of Craft and Small Business of Slovenia and attracted numerous members of the chamber as well as representatives of institutes, faculties, training centres and industry.

More than 120 professionals from the industry and economy attended the second conference on manufacturing logistics that took place on October 22 in Novo mesto. The program council and company GR Inženiring, d.o.o. have prepared nine lectures about organisation, quality and IT support for the manufacturing logistics, supported by examples of best practice and a visit to the manufacturing facilities of Revoz, Slovenia’s only car manufacturer.
Manufacturing logistics is gaining on importance, as proven by the interest of experts from the industry who responded to the invitation in even greater numbers and attended the second conference on manufacturing logistics. The location of event was not chosen randomly, as this is the only place in Slovenia where cars are manufactured. Automotive industry typically operates best developed and organised supply chains, its core part being the manufacturing logistics. Automotive industry is therefore a role model for other sectors of industry. The participants were able to see for themselves that this reputation is justified during a guided visit to Revoz manufacturing facilities, the final part of this event.

Dr. Tomaž Perme

Ideas and proposals for the organisation of an event dedicated to the industry have been circling for some time among the creators, representatives of industry, professional circles and readers of IRT3000 magazine. The creators of IRT3000 magazine have therefore come to a decision to organise IFIRT 2009 - Industrial forum of innovation, R&D and technology beginning of June in Portorož. Namely, all similar events are narrowly specialised and our forum will be dedicated to the industry in a wider sense, hoping to provide answers to questions placed by various industries. The forum will be divided into thematic areas and will cover all the fields covered by IRT3000 magazine: metal-working industry, non-metals processing industry, automation and informatisation, as well as logistics and other advanced technologies.