Caracol S.r.l.

The evolution of AM starts from the most demanding manufacturing needs: large, complex, critical parts.

Caracol was born from the idea of pushing the limits of AM, beyond what was possible. We brought that idea to life, evolving the possibilities of Additive Manufacturing on scale, shape, and materials.

HERON AM is our Large-Format Additive Manufacturing system: a robotized extrusion head, with direct and continuous feeding of composites and polymers, a dedicated software platform for the most complex tool paths, and many more features to fully integrate all that is needed to manufactured advance industrial parts.

Our solution is one of the leading LFAM systems in the world, and the only one that is offered as a turnkey solution to maximize flexibility, process control, and performance for clients who want to manufacture parts on-demand and in situ. 

The system can produce components with a wide range of thermoplastics and composites (both from virgin and recycled origins) in the form of pellets and shreds. This makes the system ideal for the production of several medium to large-scale parts, such as: structural elements, tooling (e.g., jigs for positioning, drilling, and cutting, molds, assembly rigs, beams), prototypes, metal replacement, temporary or permanent substitution of parts, and an array of applications and components we continue to discover every day. 

We have developed the system as an integrated hardware and software solution that can be customized for different applications and manufacturing requirements so every element can be adapted to different end-users' needs.

This is possible thanks to the modular approach we adopted in the development stages of the system, and thanks to our “application-first” focus.

We created HERON AM first of all as end-users, looking to manufacture parts that would not have been possible before. After 7+ years of research, over 29000 hours of printing, and 150+ projects for clients in sectors like Aerospace, Automotive, Energy, Marine, Architecture and Design, HERON AM was perfected.

Today our cutting-edge technology is helping our clients achieve their productivity, efficiency, and sustainability goals.

Our product groups

Engineering and part design

PLM and CAD software

Optimization services

Simulation

Digitizing of components

Research and development (R&D)

Polymers

Material extrusion

Engineering

Production of components and assemblies