Thursday, July 3, 2025 – Day 18
At 5:30 a.m., the first light of morning filtered through the shuttered windows of Officina22. Leo was already dressed, laptop in his backpack, wearing his navy blue blazer—his only formal one—and white sneakers. He stared at the tram map one last time, checked train schedules to Modena, and exhaled slowly.
He was headed to the headquarters of Alvani Meccanica. The stakes were massive. Securing Alvani's confirmation would send a clear signal to Officine Baldini and to everyone else watching from the sidelines.
Sofia and Giulia were still asleep when he left, but they'd wake up soon. Their day would be equally important. The pitch to ProtoForma Srl, the Turin-based 3D printing company, was scheduled for Friday. They had less than 30 hours to finalize regulatory alignment, process analysis, and tech requirements. But Leo was confident in them. More than that, he knew they cared.
Back at Officina22
Around 7:00 a.m., Sofia brewed coffee while Giulia scribbled down a list of process parameters on a whiteboard. They were going through ProtoForma's existing workflow. The biggest hurdle wasn't the printing precision—it was aligning with aerospace regulation. These included ISO 9100, EN 9100, and specific material certification from NADCAP bodies. ProtoForma was accustomed to prototyping for industrial parts but not certified end-use aerospace components.
Giulia messaged two people:
Jacopo, a master's graduate in aerospace engineering from Politecnico di Milano
Elisa, a final-year mechanical engineering student at Polimi, currently buried in exams
They both replied within the hour. Jacopo was in. Elisa, despite the pressure of her finals, said she'd be there by late morning. The team felt a jolt of relief.
"They're coming. We're not alone," Giulia said with a grin.
Sofia raised her coffee mug. "To friends who know turbopumps and tensile stress curves."
Modena, 10:30 a.m.
Leo sat at the reception of Alvani Meccanica. Marco Alvani wasn't in the room, and Leo had no idea that he was already on their side. Luca knew there was nothing to worry about since Officine Baldine was on board, and Alvani Meccanica worked in synergy with them; it was already a done deal. Yet, Luca didn't want to tell this to Leo. It was a formative experience to control the nervousness before big deals.
The meeting started exactly at 11:00. Leo walked into the boardroom where three Alvani managers were seated, including the company's CFO and Operations Director.
Leo led with a slide summarizing the financial modeling: potential cost reduction of 12% over 18 months, multi-supplier diversification to avoid production halts, and a strategy for integrating more with Officine Baldini.
"We're not offering you theory," Leo said. "We're offering an ecosystem of suppliers and validation models that work."
The CFO raised an eyebrow. "If this works, Baldini will follow."
Leo simply nodded.
By noon, he had what he needed: verbal confirmation. Alvani was in.
He almost collapsed from the adrenaline when he left the room.
In the train, he updated his memo:
Goals 30 days:
10 real contacts -> 6 reached so far
5 physical visits -> 3 Officine Baldini, Alvani Meccanica, Protoforma
3 verbal confirmation -> 2 Officine Baldini, Alvani Meccanica
1 signed MoU - 0 so far
He was relieved; now they needed to strive for the objective he worked for, with 12 days to go.
Back in Milan, 1:00 p.m.
Jacopo arrived first. Tall, lean, a rolled-up Polimi hoodie under one arm, he shook hands with Giulia and Sofia. They immediately sat him down and explained ProtoForma's capabilities, the compliance gap, and the current bottlenecks.
"If they want to work with Vitesse-Procure, they'll need certification at two levels," Jacopo explained. "Part-level and process-level. Process includes additive manufacturing under NADCAP guidelines."
"What about material traceability?" Sofia asked.
"Needs to be built into their ERP. We can help them tag production batches, even link it to blockchain if we get creative."
An hour later, Elisa arrived, breathless, hair still slightly damp from a rushed shower. She apologized, then immediately dove into the technical schematics.
"ProtoForma uses SLS and DMLS, right?" she asked.
"Yes. Mostly SLS for polymers and DMLS for metals," Giulia answered.
"Then the key issue will be post-processing. They'll need to control residual stress, porosity, and anisotropy. These affect fatigue life—and aerospace doesn't forgive fatigue."
For the next four hours, they poured over technical files, ProtoForma's capabilities, and regulatory manuals. They outlined three possible strategies:
Full process overhaul – high compliance, high cost
Targeted adjustments – medium compliance, lower cost
Partnering with a certified third-party for validation – cost-effective, slower ramp-up
They debated.
Jacopo was pragmatic. "They won't afford a full overhaul. Option 2, plus external validation for final pieces."
Elisa agreed. "We focus on modifying only the DMLS flow. Powder purity, chamber calibration, and parameter repeatability."