Nikola Blažević initially just wanted to see if he could make money, and now he is starting to export his two brands

Startup Mikrotvornica was the first in Croatia to engage in additive technologies and has developed two brands: the platform 3DPrintaj and the 3D printer Modax Machines. Currently, it exports ten percent of its production, but according to the founder and owner Nikola Blažević, that percentage will be higher next year.

Blažević is a mechanical engineer who became interested in 3D printing during his studies and learned the most about this technology on his own. After graduating in 2017, he founded the company. During a lengthy conversation with him, we realized that he will succeed in creating anything his engineering mind imagines because, unlike many young entrepreneurs and startup founders, he is aware that no matter how innovative his products and services are, he must sell them and knows how to do it. Mikrotvornica moved a month ago, after five years spent in ZICER, to a new business space of 150 square meters in the Recro business center in New Zagreb. The larger part is occupied by the production facility, where in one corner stands a two-meter tall purple statue of a female golfer, the first 3D print by Blažević made to order for an Irish artist even before he founded the company. A smaller part of the business space is designated for education and the main office where six employees of Mikrotvornica will work.

– From the beginning of the company’s development, we started parallel with two projects; with the 3DPrintaj platform, we are uniting education and the implementation of equipment in many companies and educational institutions in Croatia, and in the near future in the region, while the second project is the development of our own 3D printer solution Modax Machines intended for the global market. As both projects have proven successful and accepted, in the near future, Modax Machines, born in Mikrotvornica, will give rise to a new separate team and a new company – says Blažević. The 3D printer Modax Machines prints objects measuring 500 by 500 by 900 millimeters and can print a work chair or another product in one piece. In addition, Mikrotvornica occasionally produces various products according to client requests, with additive manufacturing always being the base, while other manufacturing methods are done in collaboration with partners.

– This diverse business model can sometimes be demanding, but it has rounded off our story because we have fully understood the market needs. In the future, our focus is on the 3DPrintaj platform and Modax Machines as our brands – emphasizes Blažević. When he started getting to know the market in the first year of business, which was extremely unfamiliar with additive technologies and their possibilities, he realized that education and quality implementation are key. Today, Mikrotvornica exports ten percent of its products and services, and its clients in the domestic market include AD Plastik, JGL…

– Our clients are most often vendors: foundries, factories with production facilities for parts for large industries such as automotive, aerospace, oil and gas industries, and furniture manufacturing development… In addition, we enjoy working with small companies that are engaged in product development, various startups like ourselves – says Blažević, who also enjoys creative projects like the RTL project, models for the Museum of the City of Korčula… Such projects are his favorites because they are also the best promotion. For example, they printed a trophy for the SEHA handball league, which involves ten kilograms of plastic in a shape that cannot be produced in any other way. They also made a replica of the winning trophy from the last century for RK Boraca from Banja Luka…

So far, the largest income for Blažević’s company comes from education and implementation of additive technology. Mikrotvornica is also participating in a very successful global project, EASI sensory tests for testing small children, in which it is included as one of only four verified manufacturers in the world. To date, they have sent more than 500 sets for these sensors to over thirty countries worldwide.

You can read the full text in the digital or printed edition of Lider.

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