Mario Fleurinck

Mario (40) is a passionate serial entrepreneur with focus on the development of sustainable manufacturing technologies. With these innovations he aims to create business models that go far beyond the economic globalisation. He believes that technology and manufacturing are playing a significant role in redesigning our social economic models. Inspired by his holistic view and in the light of growing global economic and geopolitical unbalance, Mario emphasizes on a decentralised approach with focus on optimal energy and material resources management.

Mario started his career as Manufacturing Engineer at Diamant Boart in Brussels (Belgium). In 1995 during a project at Boeing in Seattle (USA) he was introduced at Sandia Lab where he saw how researchers in an experimental phase used material growth for the production of complex turbine parts. This confrontation was going to determine his professional path realising that material growth, nowadays called Additive Manufacturing, had the potential to change the manufacturing industry fundamentally.

After Boeing Mario worked for Airbus’ subcontractor Asco Industries and started his first own company in 1998, from then on one start-up was following the other.

Today Mario is CEO at Melotte a reputed tooling manufacturer who was at the end of its life cycle in 2003. There he saw his chance to transform this company with a terrific DNA from an analogue into a digital manufacturer of complex mechanical solutions. Melotte delivers critical components to the petrochemical and chemical industry, dental and medical markets and the engineering industry.

For each business decision Mario reverts to the principles of Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Matrix that scores business projects on two economic pillars, cost savings and growth on one hand and about five sustainability criteria on the other hand. These criteria enclose critical success factors in the sphere of energy efficiency, raw material management, carbon footprint, water use reduction and recycling. His main objective is the development of material deforming processes emphasising local roots and a decentralised upscale potential.

Mid-March Melotte delivered its 10.000^th dental prosthesis, a transformation project – From Analogue to Digital Dental Practise – proving the economic and ecological casus. The total impact decreased factor 8 and on top of that Mario created high valued employment, now having the disposal of the first complete digitalised dental production unit in the world.

Mario intends to roll out this Benelux model internationally and wants to create a Web 3.0 digital manufacturing cluster where transport of physic products will be excluded in order to create precious local employment. This approach must give an answer to the unbridled globalisation letting the human being be at the centre again. In this way he is faithful to his philosophy, namely “Translating analogue material transformation processes into sustainable digital material growth processes with minimal use of raw materials and energy in view of creating maximal sustainable employment.”

Mario is married with his dear spouse Evy and has two lovely children, Wout (8) and little Lisa (2).

Presentation

The leading thread running through Mario’s presentation will be his philosophy: “Translating analogue material transformation processes into sustainable digital material growth processes with minimal use of raw materials and energy in view of creating maximal sustainable employment”.

He will focus on getting an answer to the unbridled globalization giving the human being a chance to be at the center again. He will explain how Direct Digital Manufacturing allows creating objects with minimal waste “growing” them layer-by-layer and the impact on our environment by means of an extended Life Cycle Analysis input. He will also pay attention to the leverage on local employment and business organization of the new eco system called InnoCrowd.