Third-party 3D printing is a service where a company outsources the production of three-dimensional objects to an external provider, working from a digital file. Essentially, you provide the design (or develop it together with the provider) and the partner handles printing the parts using the right machines, materials, and expertise, delivering the finished product to you. You don't need to buy printers, train specialized staff, or manage maintenance: you pay for what you get, when you need it.

This approach addresses two different but complementary needs. The first is prototyping: quickly creating a physical model to test the form, dimensions, and usability of a product before launching large-scale production. The second is actual manufacturing: producing components or finished items in small to medium quantities without the costs and timelines of traditional tooling.

But who actually benefits from it? In general, any organization that needs custom parts without wanting to tie up capital in their own equipment.

• Manufacturing companies developing new products who want to test prototypes before investing in production.
• SMEs and craftspeople needing small batches of components, where setting up a dedicated line wouldn't be cost-effective.
• Design and engineering studios that need to present physical models to clients or partners.
• Companies that need to replace parts no longer available or difficult to source on the market.
• Startups and R&D departments working with variable volumes who need flexibility without heavy fixed costs.

The common thread is clear: whoever chooses outsourcing wants to convert a fixed cost (buying and managing equipment) into a variable cost linked only to actual orders. It's the ideal choice when volumes don't justify an internal investment, when needs change over time, or when you need access to technical expertise without building it in-house.

That's precisely why our service supports companies on both fronts—prototyping and production—enabling you to go from idea to physical part without needing to set up a dedicated department.

Rapid prototyping vs production: when outsourcing makes sense

Third-party 3D printing addresses a wide range of different needs. Understanding which scenario your company is in is the first step to evaluating whether it makes sense to rely on an external provider rather than invest in machinery and internal staff. Generally speaking, the more variable or infrequent your needs are, the more advantageous outsourcing becomes.

There are four main use cases, each with precise economic logic:

• Functional prototypes: when you need to validate a design before production, you require only a few pieces in a short timeframe. Buying a printer to use sporadically doesn't make sense: you pay for the machine, materials, and learning curve for limited use.
• Small batches: from dozens to a few hundred pieces, often without volumes significant enough to justify injection molds. 3D printing avoids tooling setup costs and lets you produce only what you actually need.
• Custom parts: bespoke components, possibly different from one another, where customization would be expensive with traditional manufacturing methods.
• Out-of-production spare parts: components no longer available on the market, reconstructible from a 3D model without having to restart entire production lines.

The economic advantage of outsourcing becomes clear when you add up the hidden costs of keeping it in-house. Purchasing a professional printer is just the beginning: you need materials, maintenance, software, dedicated space, and above all the technical expertise to achieve reliable results. All of this only makes sense with steady, continuous volumes.

The right question isn't "how much does a 3D printer cost", but "what is my actual cost per piece, considering the machine, time, and expertise required".

By relying on an external service, you pay only for what you produce, without tying up capital in equipment and without having to train specialized staff. With our prototyping and production service, you can move from initial prototype to small-batch production while maintaining a single point of contact, reducing lead times and optimizing costs throughout the entire journey, from your first idea to the finished component.

Technologies and materials: how to choose the right one for your project

There is no single "best" 3D printing technology in absolute terms: there's the one that best fits the results you need. To make a clear request, you don't need to become a technician, but it helps to understand the three variables that guide almost every decision: part strength, surface finish quality, and cost. Starting from these factors allows you to have a concrete conversation with your supplier and avoid wrong choices.

Here's a practical overview of the most widely used technologies and what each one actually delivers:

• FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling): the most economical solution for functional prototypes, brackets, fixtures, and internal tools. Good mechanical strength, visible layer finish. Ideal when function matters more than aesthetics.
• SLA/DLP (resins): high detail and smooth surfaces. Perfect for aesthetic models, client presentations, parts with fine geometries. Standard resins are less durable, but more robust technical versions are available.
• SLS (powder sintering): produces strong parts without supports, suited for complex geometries and small production runs. Excellent balance between performance and repeatability when you need multiple functional parts.

When it comes to materials, the reasoning is similar. Engineering plastics (like ABS, PETG, or nylon) offer impact and temperature resistance for real-world components; resins prioritize detail and aesthetics; specific materials can guarantee flexibility, rigidity, or chemical resistance. The right question isn't "which material do I want", but "what stresses will the part experience and in what environment will it work".

Define the end use of the part first: technology and material are consequences, not starting points.

If you're unsure, there's no need to arrive with a choice already made. In our prototyping and production service, we start from your actual need and help you identify the best combination of technology and material between performance, quality, and budget. This way you avoid unnecessary costs and get a component aligned with your goal, whether you need a single prototype or a small production run.

From file to finished part: the workflow of a professional service

Entrusting a project to an external service means, above all, being able to count on a structured and traceable process. Every part goes through well-defined phases, each with precise quality checks: this ensures that the final result meets expectations and minimizes the risk of surprises in timing or output quality. Here's how the process typically unfolds.

• File receipt and analysis: starting from the CAD model (or an idea to develop together). If the file isn't ready yet, a prototyping and production service can help you build it or refine it.
• Feasibility check: geometries, wall thickness, tolerances and critical points that could compromise printing are reviewed. Better to catch a problem now than after the part is finished.
• Print preparation: part orientation, supports and machine settings are defined based on the material and intended use.
• Printing: the component is produced using the chosen technology, with production progress monitored to ensure consistent quality.
• Post-production and finishing: removal of supports, cleaning and, when needed, aesthetic or functional treatments like laser engraving for logos, codes or markings.
• Final quality check and delivery: dimensional and visual verification before shipment.

The feasibility check phase deserves particular attention. This is when the supplier acts as a technical filter: it flags if a detail needs revision, if one material would be better suited than another, or if a minor change can cut costs and lead time. For you, it means reaching production with an already-validated design, without needing to be a 3D printing expert.

Finishing touches also make the difference between a rough prototype and a part ready for use or presentation. Laser engraving, for example, allows you to personalize components with permanent, legible markings—useful both for branding and for traceability throughout production.

It's precisely this end-to-end management, from prototyping through production, that makes the supplier relationship transparent: you know at every stage where your part stands and by what criteria it's being worked on. A clear workflow isn't a mere formality—it's the concrete foundation on which result quality is built.

How to Evaluate and Choose a 3D Printing Partner

Entrusting an external supplier with the production of prototypes or components means sharing ideas, designs, and production goals. Choosing the right partner therefore affects not only the quality of the finished part, but also development timelines and the protection of your company's intellectual property. Here are the key criteria to consider before placing an order.

• Real engineering expertise: a good partner doesn't just "print a file"—they understand the technical requirements of your part, identify potential issues, and propose solutions. Check whether they have professionals who can engage directly with your design team.
• Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) consulting: 3D printing has its own rules. A competent supplier helps you optimize geometry for additive production, reducing costs, time, and the risk of defects already at the design stage.
• Project confidentiality: ask how files and sensitive information are handled. A willingness to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and clear data management procedures are signs of a serious partner.
• Reliable timelines and communication: verify their ability to meet deadlines and keep you updated on progress. A quote with vague timelines is often the first red flag for future problems.
• Continuity from prototype to production: a partner capable of supporting you through both prototyping and production phases saves you from starting over when you switch suppliers as your project scales.

This last point is often overlooked, but it makes a substantial difference. Switching suppliers between the testing and production phases requires new alignments, repeated verifications, and possible variations in the final result. Having a single trusted reference throughout the entire journey simplifies management and reduces the margin for error.

This is the philosophy behind our prototyping and production service: partnering with you from idea validation through component delivery, maintaining technical consistency and operational continuity. When evaluating suppliers, always ask for concrete examples of past projects and verify how willing they are to dig into your actual needs—not just provide a price quote.

Request a Quote or Consultation for Your Project

After seeing how third-party 3D printing services work, the most concrete step is to test your specific project. Every component has different needs in terms of geometry, materials, volumes and timelines: which is why a targeted quote is worth far more than a generic estimate. It's the quickest way to understand whether the idea you have in mind is feasible and how much it actually costs to bring it to life.

You don't need to have everything ready to start the discussion. Even if you only have a sketch, an incomplete technical drawing, or simply a problem to solve, an initial consultation helps you clarify your options and avoid costly mistakes. At this stage we evaluate together the technical feasibility, the most suitable technology and the ballpark costs, so you can make decisions with concrete data in hand.

To get a quick and accurate response, it's helpful to provide some basic information about your project:

• The 3D file of the part (if available) or a drawing with the main dimensions
• The quantity of parts you need, distinguishing between prototype and production
• The intended use of the component and the conditions it will need to operate in
• Any requirements for materials, strength, finish or delivery times

Whether you need a prototype to validate on a tight timeline or a small series ready for use, our prototyping and production service guides you from file assessment through to the finished part. The goal is to give you a clear answer: what's possible, what the timeline looks like, and what it costs.

A well-structured quote is not just a number: it's the first step to turning an idea into a real component, without surprises on timelines and budget.

Contact us to request a quote or book a consultation on your project: we'll analyze your needs together and point you toward the most efficient solution to take it from design to reality.

L'articolo 3D Printing Service for Companies: How It Works and When It’s Worth It proviene da RENOR & Partners S.r.l..

When a company has just a few connected devices, keeping them under control seems straightforward: a technician handles them, one problem at a time, and everything works. But things change quickly. Just a few dozen sensors, some gateways, and a couple of networked machines are enough for manual management to start showing its cracks. Each new device adds configurations to handle, updates to deploy, and potential failures to monitor.

The critical point comes when growth is no longer linear. A company that today has 50 connected devices might have 300 in a year's time, spread across different locations or directly at customer sites. Without a centralized tool, every operation takes time, involves repetitive interventions, and often requires someone to be physically present. The result is predictable: rising costs, slow response times, and a constant feeling of chasing problems instead of preventing them.

There are some concrete signs that indicate when it's time to adopt a dedicated platform:

• You don't have a unified view of all your devices' status in real time
• Updates require manual intervention, device by device
• You only discover malfunctions when someone reports a service disruption
• Adding new devices or new locations creates disproportionate workload
• Collected data remains fragmented and difficult to access

An IoT management software exists precisely to address these needs: bringing all your devices into a single point of control, enabling you to monitor them, update them, and take action without leaving your desk. In essence, it transforms a chaotic collection of connected objects into a manageable infrastructure that can grow with your business without creating disorder.

It's not the number of devices that determines the success of an IoT project, but the ability to manage them in an orderly way as they multiply.

To achieve this result, choosing the right software needs to be supported by a solid technological foundation. This is where development expertise and cloud solutions come in: platforms designed to centralize data, make remote management accessible, and support growth in device numbers over time. In the following sections, we'll explore how to choose the platform that best fits your needs.

What a real IoT management software actually does: the key features

Beyond the acronyms and marketing promises, you can recognize a good IoT management software by just a few essential features that work together. Understanding them lets you evaluate vendor proposals with a critical eye and determine whether a platform truly fits your use case.

Here are the five areas you should focus on.

• Device provisioning and onboarding: this is the process of registering, configuring, and securely connecting a new device to the platform. As your numbers grow, being able to activate hundreds of devices automatically, without manual one-by-one setup, makes the difference between a manageable project and an operational nightmare.
• Real-time monitoring: the platform must show you the status of your devices at any moment—whether they're online, how they're performing, and if there are any anomalies. It's the dashboard that gives you immediate visibility into what's happening in the field, without waiting for someone to report a problem.
• Over-the-air firmware updates (OTA): OTA stands for 'Over The Air,' meaning updates delivered remotely. Being able to update device software without sending a technician on-site is crucial for fixing bugs, closing security gaps, and adding new features, especially when devices are spread across different locations.
• Alarm management: the platform must alert you when something goes outside expected parameters—for example, an unusual temperature or a device that stops responding. Look for the ability to set custom thresholds and choose how you receive notifications, so you can act before a problem becomes a disaster.
• Data collection and storage: every device generates information that, once organized and archived, becomes a valuable resource for decision-making. Check how data is saved, for how long it's kept, and in what format you can export it or integrate it with other business systems.

No standard platform addresses all these needs in the same way—it heavily depends on the type of devices and your company's objectives. That's why, beyond choosing the platform itself, the development work and cloud infrastructure needed to integrate it into your processes matters just as much, so these features become concrete tools serving your business.

Cloud, on-premise or hybrid solution: how to choose your architecture

Choosing the architecture to run your IoT management software on is not just a technical detail: it directly impacts costs, growth timeline, and data control. There are three main options, and each one serves different business needs best.

The cloud solution means entrusting your infrastructure to an external provider. It requires no upfront server investment, activates quickly, and scales with you: if you double your connected devices tomorrow, you increase capacity without buying hardware. In return, you pay a recurring subscription and rely on the provider to manage security. It's the most flexible option for most small and medium-sized businesses.

On-premise keeps everything within your own systems. It requires a significant initial investment and a team to manage it, but gives you complete control over your data. It's often the mandatory path for sectors with strict regulatory requirements, like healthcare, defense, or certain industrial fields where information cannot leave the company's perimeter.

The hybrid solution brings both worlds together: sensitive data stays internal, while features that need scalability and remote access live in the cloud. It's a solid compromise for established companies that want flexibility without giving up control over what matters.

To find your way, evaluate three concrete factors based on your situation:

• Scalability: how much and how quickly do you expect to grow the number of connected devices?
• Costs: would you prefer a modest upfront investment and a predictable subscription, or do you have the resources for an owned infrastructure?
• Security and regulations: does your industry require that data remain within the company?

There's no one-size-fits-all answer: a growing craft business and a regulated industrial group will make very different choices. This is precisely why the analysis phase is just as important as the technology itself. With our development and cloud services, we can help you evaluate the model best suited to your company's size and sector, so you can start with an architecture that stands the test of time instead of playing catch-up with expensive fixes down the road.

Security and compliance: protecting a fleet of connected devices

Every connected device is, in essence, a gateway into your corporate network. As the number of sensors, gateways and field devices grows, so does what experts call the "attack surface": the set of points through which an attacker can attempt to gain entry. The risk isn't merely theoretical. Many IoT devices are deployed and then forgotten, with default passwords never changed and firmware never updated—easy targets for attacks that can halt production, steal data, or turn your devices into tools to damage third parties.

This is where centralized management makes a real difference. Having a single control point means you always know which devices are active, can roll out security updates in a coordinated way, revoke access to a compromised device, and enforce strong credentials across your entire fleet. It's far easier to defend a perimeter you know and monitor than to chase after dozens of individually managed devices.

Security goes hand-in-hand with regulatory compliance. If your devices collect data that could identify individuals, you fall under GDPR requirements. This comes with specific obligations that should translate into concrete operational choices.

• Know what data is collected, where it's stored, and for how long
• Ensure information is encrypted both in transit and at rest
• Limit access to authorized users only, with an audit trail of all operations
• Be able to demonstrate, during an inspection, the technical safeguards you've put in place

These are requirements that can't be improvised: they shape your system's architecture and how data flows from devices to management applications. That's why security needs to be built in from the start, not bolted on afterward.

This is where a partner with development and cloud expertise becomes invaluable: they help you build solutions designed to protect your data and scale your fleet, integrating device management with the rest of your business systems in a way that's solid and sustainable long-term.

Off-the-shelf platform or custom solution?

Once you've clarified your functions, architecture, and security requirements, you face a strategic decision: adopt commercially available software already on the market or invest in developing a platform built specifically around your company's needs. There's no one-size-fits-all answer—the right choice depends on the number of devices, process complexity, and how central IoT management is to your business model.

Off-the-shelf platforms come with tangible advantages: quick time to market, contained upfront costs, vendor-managed updates, and established community support or customer service. They're the most sensible choice when your devices fit standard use cases and you need to get moving fast without tying up internal resources.

The downside emerges when business processes won't adapt to the software—instead, the software imposes its own constraints. Locked-in customizations, difficult integrations with your existing systems, fees that climb with device count, and single-vendor lock-in are obstacles that can, over time, outweigh the initial savings.

Custom development makes sense in specific situations:

• You have proprietary devices or protocols that standard solutions don't support.
• The platform must integrate deeply with your ERP, accounting software, or other internal systems.
• Device volume makes per-license fees economically unsustainable over the long term.
• IoT management is part of your product or service, not just an internal tool.

A custom solution gives you complete data control, freedom to evolve, and zero vendor lock-in. But it demands a larger upfront investment and adequate expertise—so it's essential to realistically budget time and costs before you start. Our dedicated article on the costs of a custom IoT platform offers deeper analysis to align expectations with resources.

Through our development and cloud services, we guide companies through this evaluation, helping them build the solution that fits their context when the custom path is the right one.

How RENOR & Partners supports companies in IoT projects

The choices faced in the previous sections—architecture, security, ready-made or custom platform—share a common thread: they rarely can be made in isolation. An IoT project succeeds when hardware, management software, and cloud infrastructure are designed together from the outset. This is precisely the ground on which RENOR & Partners works alongside companies.

Many businesses come with a clear goal about the outcome—monitor a fleet of devices, gather field data, automate a process—but with legitimate doubts about how to translate it into a concrete and sustainable solution. Our role is to bridge this gap, guiding the project from requirements definition through to operational deployment.

Through our Electronic Design service, we intervene where data originates: at the devices themselves. We design the electronics based on real-world use, operating conditions, and information collection and transmission objectives. This way, the device is not an element to be retrofitted later, but an integral part of the solution.

Through our Development and Cloud service, we build the software layer and infrastructure that make that data usable: management software, integration with existing company systems, and the cloud environment for the solution. The goal is to deliver a single complete IoT solution, coherent across every layer, rather than a collection of components struggling to communicate.

This integrated approach has a practical advantage for those without a structured technical department: a single point of contact responsible for the entire project, reducing compatibility risks, integration timelines, and unexpected costs that often arise when hardware and software come from different vendors.

• Requirements definition based on business objectives, not technology
• Electronic design of devices for real-world use
• Development of management software and integration with existing company systems
• Implementation of cloud infrastructure supporting the solution

If you're evaluating an IoT project—or want to know if you're on the right track—the most useful way to start is to discuss your specific needs. Contact us for a consultation: we'll analyze your scenario together and define the best path for your company.

L'articolo Software for managing business IoT devices: selection guide proviene da RENOR & Partners S.r.l..

An industrial telemetry system is a collection of devices and technologies that allows you to gather data directly from machines, plants, and equipment, then transmit it remotely to a central system where it can be viewed and analyzed. In practical terms, it means knowing in real time what's happening on a piece of machinery even when you're not physically standing next to it: temperatures, consumption rates, vibrations, operating hours, alarms, and operational status.

The value for a company doesn't lie in the data itself, but in the decisions that data makes possible. Here are the three areas where telemetry delivers concrete and measurable returns.

• Remote monitoring: you keep track of the condition of plants spread across multiple sites or installed at customer locations, reducing travel and response times.
• Predictive maintenance: by analyzing how parameters change over time, you intervene before a failure shuts down production, avoiding unexpected downtime and expensive repair costs.
• Operational efficiency: objective data on consumption and usage helps identify waste, optimize processes, and justify investments with real numbers.

Companies usually start evaluating this kind of project based on a specific problem: machinery that stops without warning, difficulty in collecting reliable data from plants, or the desire to offer customers a more advanced support service. If these issues apply to you, then a telemetry system is probably the right answer, and the next step is understanding what impacts the implementation costs.

Telemetry transforms a 'silent' plant into a source of information for those who need to make decisions.

It's important to remember that the heart of every telemetry system is the electronics that acquires and transmits the data: sensors, boards, and dedicated components must be designed for the specific environment in which they will operate. This is why electronic design is the foundation on which the entire system is built, and the choices made at this stage directly influence the reliability, lifespan, and overall costs of the project.

The components that make up a telemetry project

When requesting a quote, it's helpful to understand that a telemetry system is not a single product, but a chain of elements that must work together. Each component has a cost, but more importantly, it affects the complexity of the project and therefore the time needed to implement it. Let's see what they are, starting from the field all the way to the dashboard you'll have in front of you.

• Sensors: they are the starting point. They measure temperature, pressure, vibrations, consumption, levels or flow rates. The number, required precision, and environmental conditions (dust, humidity, extreme temperatures) directly impact the choice and price.
• Acquisition units: they collect signals from sensors and convert them into usable data. The more measurement points and the more heterogeneous the signals, the greater the complexity of this part.
• Connectivity: it's the way data travels. It can be wired (reliable but with installation costs), wireless (flexible but sensitive to obstacles) or cellular (useful for remote facilities, with recurring data traffic costs).
• Gateways: they act as a bridge between the field and the platform, collecting data from multiple sources and forwarding it in an organized and secure manner.
• Data collection software platform: it stores and organizes data over time, making it available for analysis and comparisons.
• Dashboards: they are what the end user sees, namely graphs, alarms and indicators that transform numbers into concrete decisions.

The real complexity arises from the fact that these components must be sized for your specific facility. A single machine isolated in a warehouse and a network of stations distributed across a territory require very different choices, even with the same data being collected.

Precisely in the part closest to the field—sensors, acquisition units and gateways—electronic design comes into play: defining the right hardware for your needs, instead of adapting off-the-shelf solutions, allows you to obtain a system that is more aligned with your work environment and measurement objectives. It's an aspect that, if handled well from the start, reflects on the reliability of the entire project.

What factors determine the cost of a quote

Two quotes for seemingly similar systems can differ substantially. The reason is that the final price depends on a range of technical and contextual variables, not on a standard price list. Understanding these factors helps you read an offer with a critical eye and identify where real value actually lies.

• Number and type of sensors: measuring temperature is one thing, detecting vibrations, pressure, electrical consumption, or quality parameters is another. More specialized sensors, as well as a large number of measurement points, directly impact hardware and wiring costs.
• Industrial environment: the presence of dust, humidity, extreme temperatures, vibrations, or explosion risk requires components with appropriate protections. A hostile environment demands more robust—and therefore more expensive—design choices.
• Distances and connectivity: the location of measurement points and their distance from the data collection hub determine whether wired or wireless connectivity makes sense. Covering large areas or buildings spread apart can increase infrastructure costs.
• Software customization: a standard dashboard costs less than an interface built on specific logic, with alarms, reports, and calculation rules tailored to your production process.
• Integration with existing management systems: connecting telemetry to ERP, MES, or other systems already in use requires dedicated development work. The older or more closed your systems are, the more time it takes to make them communicate.
• Certifications: some industries require compliance with specific regulations. Obtaining and documenting these certifications involves testing, verification, and costs that should be factored in from the start.

One often underestimated aspect is the electronic design of the devices. Opting for custom engineering, rather than adapting off-the-shelf components, allows you to properly size sensors, electronics, and power consumption against your actual needs. This is precisely the service we focus on, and it impacts the quote because it avoids unnecessary oversizing and reduces problems during installation and maintenance.

When comparing multiple quotes, therefore, don't stop at the bottom line: check which of these factors are included and at what level of detail. A transparent quote makes them explicit, enabling you to understand what you're paying for and why.

Off-the-shelf or custom-built solutions: how to choose

One of the most significant decisions affecting your quote is which path to take: starting with products already available on the market or developing a system specifically designed for your needs. There is no universally correct answer. The right choice depends on how much your requirements deviate from what ready-made solutions offer standard.

An off-the-shelf solution has clear advantages: fast deployment times, lower upfront costs, and a track record already proven by other companies. If you need to monitor common parameters, under ordinary environmental conditions and with non-critical volumes, it's often the most sensible approach. In these cases, most of the budget goes toward installation and setup, not development.

The picture changes when your requirements become specific. There are situations where catalog products fall short or force compromises that prove costly over time.

• Harsh environments: extreme temperatures, vibrations, dust, or aggressive substances that commercial devices cannot withstand.
• Integration with existing or proprietary equipment, where you need to communicate with systems that don't support standard connections.
• Space, power supply, or energy consumption constraints that make generic solutions impractical.
• Need to measure uncommon parameters or combine multiple signals in ways not foreseen by standard products.

When these elements come into play, a custom project stops being a luxury and becomes the most economically rational choice. Electronic design fits into this picture: developing the hardware around your actual needs, rather than forcing your needs into a product designed for others.

In terms of time and budget, customization involves a larger upfront investment and a longer development phase. However, it should be evaluated over the entire lifecycle: a system tailored to your process reduces corrective interventions, forced replacements, and inefficiencies that an approximate solution drags on for years. The practical advice is to start with an honest mapping of your real needs, so you can determine where the standard solution is sufficient and where customization truly pays off.

How to Request a Useful and Accurate Quote

A reliable quote starts with a well-prepared request. The more concrete information you provide at the outset, the closer the estimate will be to reality, with fewer revisions and surprises along the way. The goal isn't to produce complex technical documents, but to enable your supplier to truly understand what you need and in what context.

Before reaching out to a partner, it's worth gathering a few key elements. This preliminary work, even if informal, speeds up the analysis and allows you to get a more precise proposal from the very first discussion.

• Clear objectives: what you want to achieve (reduce downtime, monitor consumption, receive real-time alerts) and in what order of priority.
• Equipment and systems to monitor: quantity, type, age and location, so compatibility and distances can be assessed.
• Desired data: which parameters to measure (temperature, vibrations, production, energy) and at what sampling frequency.
• Existing infrastructure: presence of network, PLC, sensors already installed, connectivity and management systems to integrate with.
• Operational constraints: indicative budget, timelines, special environments (dust, humidity, extreme temperatures).

One often overlooked aspect concerns the points where data isn't yet available. Many machines, especially older ones, don't have outputs ready to be connected to a data collection system. In these cases, dedicated electronics design becomes necessary to create the boards and devices that make otherwise inaccessible parameters measurable. Flagging this in your request helps correctly frame both the costs and the timeline.

A quote is only as good as the information it's based on: describing your starting point well is the first step toward a realistic estimate.

Finally, don't hesitate to state what you don't know. A competent supplier will suggest an on-site visit or preliminary analysis to fill the gaps. It's better to invest a few days in initial assessment than to discover unforeseen requirements mid-project that extend timelines and increase costs. Mutual transparency at this stage is the best investment for your entire project.

Trust RENOR & Partners for Your Telemetry Project

After seeing which factors impact your quote and how to submit an accurate request, there's one decisive step left: choosing a partner capable of supporting you from the planning phase through to a working system. A telemetry project brings together diverse competencies, from the hardware that gathers data in the field to the software that makes it readable and actionable. Having a single point of contact who coordinates these areas reduces risks, eliminates finger-pointing, and delivers a more predictable overall cost.

At RENOR & Partners, we approach these projects starting from your business's concrete needs, without imposing cookie-cutter solutions from the start. Our goal is to understand what you need to measure, where, and how often, then translate that into a system tailored to your actual situation.

• Electronics design: we develop custom electronics for gathering data directly from the field, taking care of the hardware foundation that underpins every reliable telemetry system.
• Software and cloud: we build the solutions that collect, organize, and make data from your systems accessible and usable.
• IT consulting: we guide you through technical decisions, so that what you choose today remains sustainable in the future.

This blend of expertise allows us to work on both streamlined solutions and complex projects, scaling our effort to what truly matters. The quote you receive isn't a number handed down from above, but the result of a discussion where priorities and budget are factored in from the start.

If you're evaluating a telemetry system for your company, the best way to get a realistic estimate is to talk with those who design the electronics and develop the data collection software. Get in touch so you can walk us through your project: we'll analyze your goals and constraints together, and propose a clear roadmap with a quote built on your actual needs.

L'articolo Quote for an industrial telemetry system: what affects costs proviene da RENOR & Partners S.r.l..

An IoT platform is the set of components that allows physical objects to collect data, communicate it, and transform it into useful information for decision-making. It's not a single product, but an integrated system where different elements work together. Understanding how these elements are built is the first step to properly assessing development costs.

Typically, an IoT platform consists of four main layers:

• Devices: the sensors and circuit boards that measure what happens in the field (temperature, consumption, location, machinery status).
• Connectivity: the way data travels from the device to the rest of the system, through networks like Wi-Fi, cellular, or dedicated protocols.
• The cloud: the infrastructure that receives, stores, and processes data from all devices.
• Dashboards: the interfaces that display data in a readable way, with charts, alerts, and reports for decision-makers.

Off-the-shelf IoT platforms exist, designed to cover standard needs with quick deployment times and low upfront costs. They're a sensible choice when your company's requirements fall into common use cases and don't require special customization.

A custom solution, on the other hand, makes sense when the company's competitive advantage comes from the specificity of the process. This is the case when you need sensors or circuit boards designed for a particular product or machinery, when collected data is strategic and you don't want to depend on external vendor limitations, or when the platform needs to integrate with existing company systems.

A custom platform isn't "more expensive" by definition: it's an investment that makes sense when the competitive difference lies in details that a standard solution doesn't address.

Electronics design operates at this exact level: building custom devices that form the foundation of your platform allows you to adapt the hardware to real-world conditions, rather than forcing your business process to fit generic components. It's often this point where a personalized solution starts to generate genuine and lasting competitive advantage.

The factors that determine IoT platform development costs

There's no standard price for an IoT platform: your budget depends on a set of technical and strategic choices. Understanding where resources go helps you set realistic priorities and avoid surprises. Here are the variables that matter most.

• Number and type of devices: managing ten identical sensors is very different from coordinating hundreds of devices with different functions. The more heterogeneous your devices are, the more complex the software needs to be to interpret them.
• Hardware design and firmware: if the devices don't exist yet or need customization, you'll need a dedicated electronics design phase, including prototyping and field testing. This is where you lay the physical foundation of the platform: specialized work that impacts your initial timeline and budget.
• Connectivity: choosing between Wi-Fi, cellular networks, Bluetooth, or long-range protocols depends on where your devices operate and what power consumption you can accept. Each technology comes with different constraints and recurring costs.
• Cloud backend: this is the brain that collects, stores, and processes data. Cost grows with data volume, update frequency, and the need for real-time processing.
• Dashboard and visualization: turning raw data into readable information requires custom interfaces. The more reports, filters, and personalized views you need, the more development effort it takes.
• Integration with existing business systems: connecting your platform to ERP, CRM, or warehouse software eliminates double entry and information silos. Complexity depends on how 'open' your current systems are.
• Security: data encryption, device authentication, and access protection aren't optional. Investing in security from the start costs less than fixing a breach later.

The often-underestimated factor is electronics design itself: when devices are custom-built, hardware design quality determines the reliability of everything built on top. Well-engineered electronics reduces failures, power consumption, and maintenance over the years to come.

The highest upfront cost isn't always the one that weighs most: what matters is total cost of ownership over time, where solid choices at the beginning pay dividends in durability.

Indicative cost ranges: from prototype to production platform

Talking about costs honestly means avoiding a flat figure: an IoT project doesn't have a fixed price tag, but a range that depends on your goals and the level of maturity you want to achieve. To help you make informed investment decisions, we distinguish three typical stages, each with different expectations in terms of outcomes and budget.

The proof of concept answers a specific question: does the idea work from a technical standpoint? Here you work with a small number of devices, often using off-the-shelf hardware and minimal integrations. It's the most cost-effective investment, and its purpose isn't aesthetic appeal or scalability, but validating feasibility and assumptions before committing larger resources.

The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is the first usable version in a real, though limited, setting. It includes a working platform with essential features, a basic monitoring dashboard, and a small batch of devices in the field. The budget increases because reliability, basic security, and a practical user experience for daily operators come into play.

The scalable production platform is designed to handle growing volumes of devices and data, with high reliability, remote update management, integration with enterprise systems, and security oversight. It's the largest investment, but it also generates lasting value, as it becomes a stable part of operational processes.

• Proof of concept: modest budget, goal is to validate technical feasibility within a few weeks.
• MVP: intermediate budget, goal is to deliver a real but stripped-down version to users.
• Production platform: major investment, focused on scalability, security, and operational continuity.

One often underestimated factor is electronics design: when devices need to be custom-engineered rather than simply assembled from standard components, it directly impacts the cost range. Custom hardware design increases the upfront investment, but enables you to optimize power consumption, size, and long-term reliability, avoiding compromises that later become costly in production.

The practical advice is to move forward in stages: start with a prototype, learn from real data, and fund the next phase only after you've reduced the risks.

Hidden costs and recurring expenses to budget for

The development estimate is just the starting point. An IoT platform isn't a project that ends at delivery: it continues to evolve alongside the devices deployed in the field. For this reason, beyond the initial investment, it's critical to budget for expenses that repeat over time. Overlooking them is the mistake that leads many companies to underestimate the actual investment by 30-40%.

The most sound approach is TCO—total cost of ownership: not what you pay today, but what the platform costs you over three to five years. Here are the major cost drivers that often slip through the cracks in initial estimates.

• Cloud hosting and infrastructure: devices send data continuously. As the number of devices and measurement frequency grow, so do storage, processing, and traffic costs. It's a monthly expense that scales with your growth.
• Software maintenance: bug fixes, library updates, and compatibility with new operating systems and browsers. A typical maintenance contract runs 15-20% annually of development costs.
• Firmware updates: deployed devices need remote updates to improve functionality and patch vulnerabilities. You need a reliable OTA update mechanism; otherwise, every fix requires a technician on-site.
• Security: monitoring, credential management, security patches, and regulatory compliance aren't one-time activities but ongoing responsibilities.
• Device scalability: moving from 100 to 10,000 units changes your infrastructure, connectivity, and support requirements. This needs planning upfront, not when the issue arises.

Producing one device costs little; keeping thousands running safely for years costs a lot.

There's also a factor that directly influences these recurring costs and rarely gets linked to budgeting: hardware quality. Thoughtful electronics design cuts power consumption, reduces field failures, and simplifies updates—with a direct impact on maintenance and support expenses over time. At RENOR, we approach projects with total cost of ownership in mind from day one: making technical choices today to control tomorrow's recurring expenses, so you get a realistic budget forecast with no surprises.

How to optimize your investment: from prototype to scale

The most effective way to manage financial risk in an IoT project is not to cut corners on features, but to spread your investment over time, moving forward in phases. Each phase delivers concrete results and lets you decide whether, how, and how much to proceed further, avoiding the need to commit substantial budgets before verifying that the solution actually works in your company's real-world context.

A phased approach typically unfolds in three distinct stages, each with clearly defined objectives and costs.

• Prototype: a first working device, even if stripped down, that proves technical feasibility and lets you test your idea in the field with limited investment.
• Validation: a small production run tested under real operating conditions to gather data, measure reliability, and make adjustments before committing to volume production.
• Production and scale: final engineering, cost optimization per unit, and cloud infrastructure ready to handle a growing number of devices.

The advantage of this approach is that every dollar spent generates useful information for the next decision. If a prototype reveals a problem, you discover it when fixing it costs little, not after you've already manufactured thousands of units. Similarly, data collected during the validation phase allows you to properly size your infrastructure, without overestimating or underestimating the resources you need.

Investing in phases doesn't mean moving slower: it means spending smarter, with the ability to stop or change course at each milestone.

In this journey, a partner capable of managing the hardware side makes a substantial difference. Through our electronic design service, we support your company from initial concept through to a device ready for production, developing custom circuitry tailored to your application. By designing electronics with scalability in mind from the start, you avoid costly redesigns when transitioning from prototype to volume production, and you maintain control over per-unit costs as your project grows.

Why choose RENOR & Partners for your IoT project

As you've seen in the previous sections, the cost of an IoT platform doesn't depend on a single factor, but rather on how hardware, software, cloud, and long-term management fit together. That's precisely why the biggest risk for a company is splitting the project across different vendors that don't communicate with each other: that's where delays, unexpected costs, and solutions that struggle to scale emerge.

RENOR & Partners was created to prevent exactly this problem. We guide your project through the entire value chain, with a single point of contact responsible for the outcome. This translates into a clearer quote, fewer handoffs between partners, and consistent technical decisions from prototype to production.

Our integrated offering covers the expertise you really need to bring an IoT platform from idea to the field:

• Electronics design: we develop custom hardware tailored to your use case, so the devices collecting data are designed from the start to work seamlessly with the rest of the platform.
• Software and cloud: we build the software and infrastructure that manage, store, and unlock the value from the data coming off your devices.
• IT consulting: we support you in making technology and organizational decisions, helping you right-size your investment and plan for growth over time.

Having these areas under one roof means that decisions made on the electronics side already account for software and cloud needs, and vice versa. It's the most effective way to put into practice the gradual approach we discussed: start with a focused prototype, measure the results, and scale without having to start over.

Every project is different: before we talk numbers, we want to truly understand what you need.

If you're evaluating an IoT platform for your company, the most valuable next step is to discuss your idea with someone who develops them every day. Contact RENOR & Partners and request a personalized assessment of your project: we'll analyze your objectives, constraints, and budget to propose the most practical and sustainable solution for your needs.

L'articolo How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Custom IoT Platform for Your Business proviene da RENOR & Partners S.r.l..

Electronic design is the process that transforms a product idea into a working device. It's far more than drawing a circuit: it means defining how an object collects data, processes it, and communicates with the external environment or other systems. It's the invisible heart that enables a product to measure, control, connect, and make decisions.

The journey starts with a concept—defining what the product needs to do and the constraints it must work within: costs, power consumption, size, regulations. From there, you move to actual design, which encompasses several distinct phases.

• Specification definition: what functions the device must perform and under what operating conditions.
• Electrical schematic design: the logic that connects components and governs how they work together.
• Printed circuit board (PCB) development: the physical translation of the schematic into a buildable and manufacturable board.
• Prototyping and testing: building the first samples to verify that everything works as intended.

For a company looking to launch an innovative product, this activity isn't a technical detail to hand off at the last minute—it's a strategic choice. The decisions made during the design phase directly impact production costs, product reliability in the market, and its ability to stand out from competitors. A mistake corrected on paper costs little; the same mistake discovered after production starts can erode margins and damage your reputation.

The quality of an electronic product is largely determined before the first prototype is even built.

This is exactly where our Electronic Design service comes in: we partner with companies to turn a need into a concrete, implementable project, guiding them through the journey from concept to circuit. For those without internal technical expertise, having a partner at this stage means reducing risk and bringing a solid product to market, without needing to become an electronics expert yourself.

The phases of an electronic project: from schematic to PCB to prototype

Understanding the development phases of an electronic product helps you plan timelines, budgets, and expectations when working with a partner. Every project follows a structured path: skipping or rushing a phase rarely saves money—more often it creates costly errors that need to be fixed later. Here's what to expect, step by step.

• Requirements analysis: defining what the product must do, the constraints (size, power consumption, budget, regulations) and conditions of use. This is where the client and the designer align technical vision with business goals.
• Schematic design: the circuit's operation is translated into an electrical schematic that describes components and connections. It's the "architectural blueprint" of electronics.
• PCB layout: the schematic becomes a physical printed circuit board, with optimal placement of components and traces. Choices made here impact reliability, manufacturing costs, and performance.
• Firmware development: if the product is "intelligent," the software that controls the electronics' behavior and governs its functions is programmed.
• Prototyping and testing: the first physical sample is built and verified in the field, fixing any issues before moving to production.

How much time does it take? It depends on complexity: a simple project might take a few weeks, a complex one several months, often with multiple revision cycles. It's worth thinking of the prototype not as the finish line, but as a tool to validate choices and reduce risks before committing to production investment.

A good partner doesn't just deliver a circuit: they guide your company from initial idea through working prototype, reducing uncertainty and wasted time.

With this approach in mind, we offer an electronic design service that follows the entire process, from requirements definition through prototype realization. Having a single point of contact across all phases means fewer handoffs, greater consistency between schematic, PCB, and firmware, and an overall view that keeps project quality, timelines, and total costs under control.

Doing electronics design in Italy: the benefits of a local partner

When developing a new electronic product, choosing the right design partner affects timelines, costs, and the quality of the final result. Working with an Italian company, or more broadly with a nearby supplier, offers tangible advantages that are often overlooked in the initial phase but become clear once the project is underway.

The first benefit is proximity. Being able to meet the design team, review a prototype in person, or schedule technical reviews without time zone differences and intercontinental shipping speeds up every stage of the work. For a company based in Sicily, for example, having a partner for electronics development in Alcamo or the surrounding area means reducing the physical and organizational distance between the person with the idea and the one who transforms it into a working circuit.

The second advantage is communication. Sharing the same language, regulatory framework, and work culture reduces misunderstandings. Technical specifications are understood on the first pass, feedback arrives quickly, and decisions are made promptly. This is particularly valuable for entrepreneurs and non-technical managers who can discuss matters with their partner without feeling lost in technical jargon or held back by language barriers.

• Supply chain management: a local partner knows component suppliers, PCB manufacturers, and assemblers in the area, and can guide choices based on actual availability and realistic delivery times.
• Timeline control: proximity enables rapid iterations between design, prototype, and corrections, avoiding the long waits typical of remote collaborations.
• Post-project support: after delivery, there remains an accessible contact for updates, design revisions, or regulatory adjustments, without having to start over with a new partner.

Our electronics design service fits precisely into this context: direct support throughout product development, from specification review to circuit implementation, with the accessibility and continuity that only a nearby partner can guarantee. For a company, it means having someone working alongside you to follow the project over time, not just for a single engagement, but as a stable reference point for your product's future evolution.

From prototype to production: how an electronic device comes to life

Many companies view the prototype and production phases as two separate worlds: first you build a working sample, then you hand it off to someone who manufactures it at scale. In reality, it's a single continuous journey where every design choice influences the costs, timelines, and reliability of the finished product. Breaking this continuity is one of the most common causes of unexpected delays and revisions.

The prototype serves to answer a concrete question: does the device actually do what it's supposed to do, under real-world usage conditions? This is where functions are verified, power consumption is measured, critical components are tested, and errors are caught when fixing them still costs little. A good prototype shouldn't just work on the bench: it should anticipate the problems that will emerge when units number in the tens, hundreds, or thousands.

The transition to production therefore requires preparation work that is often underestimated. Some key areas to focus on:

• Component availability: verify that selected parts are available over time and not at risk of becoming obsolete;
• Cost optimization: redesign the project to reduce the per-unit price without compromising quality;
• PCB manufacturability: adapt the circuit to industrial assembly processes, not just manual fabrication;
• Test procedures: define how to verify each produced unit quickly and consistently.

Anyone who has been involved in the design already understands the product in detail and can manage this transition without losing information. This is the advantage of working with a single partner who guides the device from initial concept through to first production runs: design choices made in the early phase are already considered with manufacturing in mind.

Our electronic design service is built on this exact principle of continuity: we follow the device throughout its entire journey, so that the shift from prototype to first industrial units is a natural continuation of the work done, not a new project starting from scratch.

How to choose the right partner for electronic design

Entrusting the development of a new product to an external partner is a decision that affects timelines, costs, and the quality of the final result. Not all suppliers are alike: some simply execute pre-defined specifications, while others are capable of guiding your company from the initial concept all the way to a market-ready product. Before signing a contract, it's worth evaluating several concrete aspects.

Here are the most useful criteria to keep in mind during selection:

• Real and verifiable expertise: ask for examples of projects similar to yours in terms of industry, complexity, and volume. A solid partner can explain technical choices in a way that's understandable even to those without a technical background.
• Portfolio and concrete case studies: evaluate products that have actually reached the market, not just lab prototypes. This signals that the partner knows how to manage the entire journey, including production challenges.
• Ability to follow research and innovation: a good partner doesn't apply standard solutions, but studies the problem, proposes alternatives, and stays updated on constantly evolving components and regulations.
• Communication and continuity: verify how updates, revisions, and unforeseen issues are handled. Clear communication reduces misunderstandings and delays.
• Holistic vision: the ideal partner thinks about the finished product, not just the single board, taking into account costs, timelines, and industrial sustainability.

These elements help distinguish a simple contractor from a true partner, capable of transforming a need into a reliable and feasible product.

In this field RENOR & Partners offers Electronic Design services, designed to support companies that want to develop new devices with careful technical guidance and clear management of every project phase.

If you're evaluating the development of a new product, get in touch to tell us about your idea: discover how we can help by visiting the page dedicated to our Electronic Design service and request an initial consultation with no commitment.

L'articolo Electronic Design in Italy: Guide for Companies Developing New Products proviene da RENOR & Partners S.r.l..

At some point I decided to turn to Prof. Antonino Gasbarrini, chief of Gastroenterology at Policlinico Gemelli in Rome. Thanks to a comprehensive evaluation, including blood tests, serological tests and histological examination on intestinal biopsy, the definitive diagnosis came: overt celiac disease.

Incredulous, I had to accept a new reality: I, who for years had eaten bread, pasta, and pizza without any problems, had activated, through a combination of genetic and environmental factors, the autoimmune response typical of celiac disease.

A silent pandemic: more than 80 million people with celiac disease worldwide

According to the most widely accepted estimates, there are more than 80 million people in the world with celiac disease, a number greater than the entire population of Italy. If we also include those suffering from non-celiac gluten intolerance, the total figure reaches 500 million individuals. A figure that confirms how gluten has become, for an increasingly large segment of the population, an invisible but real enemy.

But why is there so much talk about celiac disease today? In part, the apparent growth is related to improved diagnostic tests: only since the 1980s have reliable serologic tests such as anti-gliadin antibodies (AGA) and anti-endomysium antibodies (EMA) been available; and only since the 2000s has the use of anti-tissue transglutaminase (tTG) antibodies, now considered the gold standard for diagnosis, become widespread. Previously, many celiac patients were misclassified with “irritable bowel,” “generic intolerance,” or not diagnosed at all.

However, the increase is not just statistical. There are industrial and agricultural factors that have contributed to increased exposure to gluten. Modern wheat varieties have been selected to contain more gluten in order to improve elasticity, tightness in cooking, and yield in industrial processes. An example that removes all doubt? Anyone who remembers pasta from the 1990s knows that it only needed to be cooked an extra minute to find itself with good glue for sticking posters. Today, pasta stays “al dente” much longer, and this is thanks (or fault) to a much higher presence of gluten than in the past. In individuals genetically predisposed to the development of celiac disease, this greatly increases the activation of genes that lead to the overt disease. To paraphrase, it would be as if a person is genetically prone to developing lung cancer and smokes three packs of cigarettes a day. This lifestyle only incredibly increases the risk of developing that form of cancer.

In search of a cure for celiac disease

Anyone who receives a diagnosis of celiac disease, especially if they have any familiarity with technology and the Internet, almost inevitably performs the same act: opening Google and typing in phrases such as “definitive cure for celiac disease,” “can you recover from celiac disease?”, “gluten vaccine,” or “enzymes for eating foods with gluten without getting sick.”

It is a natural reaction: you look for a way out, a solution, a remedy that will allow you to return to a normal life, where a pizza or a plate of pasta does not pose a potential health hazard.

Unfortunately, to date, there is no definitive cure for celiac disease: the only effective treatment is a strict gluten-free diet, to be followed for life. However, scientific research is very active, and in recent years there has been increasing experimentation on enzyme drugs, vaccines, and cell therapies that could one day complement, or perhaps replace, the gluten-free diet.

This constant search for solutions shows how widespread, and often underestimated, is the need for practical, immediate, and reliable tools to detect gluten in foods before consuming them.

Research avenues: drugs on the way for celiac disease?

Although celiac disease today has no definitive cure, the scientific community is at work on several experimental therapies that could, in the future, radically change the management of the disease. From inhibitor drugs and digestive enzymes to cell therapies and gut modulators, the avenues being pursued by research are numerous and in development.

ZED1227 – transglutaminase 2 inhibitor.

One of the most promising candidates is ZED1227, an oral drug that blocks the enzyme transglutaminase 2 (TG2), which is central in the activation of the autoimmune response to gluten. It has successfully completed Phase 2a clinical trials, demonstrating that it can prevent intestinal mucosal damage in celiac subjects.

If, and we stress if, Phase 3 confirms efficacy, it could reach the market no sooner than 5 years.

Pill based on egg yolk antibodies

This innovative pill uses antibodies extracted from egg yolk to bind gluten directly in the gut, preventing its absorption and thus the immune reaction. It has passed safety tests, and the first clinical trials on effectiveness will begin soon.

It could become available in about 4 years, but only if it passes the next stages of testing.

Cell therapy with regulatory T lymphocytes (Treg)

A more radical approach involves the use of engineered regulatory T lymphocytes, capable of restoring tolerance to gluten without suppressing the entire immune system. Currently, the therapy is still in the preclinical stage in animal models, with promising results.

In case of success, we are still talking about at least 10 years before possible clinical application.

Enzyme therapies (TAK-062, latiglutenase)

These drugs contain enzymes that degrade gluten in the stomach before it can trigger the immune response. They are designed to be taken before meals. Candidate TAK-062 is in Phase 1, while other formulations are further along.

Estimated time frame: 7 years before eventual commercial launch.

Larazotide acetate – Intestinal barrier under control

Larazotide acts on the tight junctions of the intestinal epithelium, reducing intestinal permeability and preventing gluten from crossing the barrier and activating the immune system. It is already in Phase 3, with promising data.

If confirmed, it could be available within 4 years.

These therapies are not yet approved, but they hold out hope for future pharmacological management of celiac disease, which could complement, or perhaps one day replace, the strict gluten-free diet.

The summary of the situation: between expectations, ignorance and daily risk

If you have come this far, you will have realized one key thing: cures for celiac disease are still a long way off. The drugs in development promise a lot, but they are still in the clinical trial stage. And every promise comes with a huge “IF”: if they work, if they are safe, if they pass all the stages, maybe they will come to market in 4, 5, 10 years.

Meanwhile, for millions of people, the only real solution remains one: to follow a completely gluten-free diet. And this is where a second, dramatic chapter opens: that of accidental contamination.

Those living with celiac disease have happened – too many times – to go to a restaurant and, when asked the fateful question, “Are you equipped for celiacs?”, be lightly answered:

“But you-how celiac are you?”

A phrase of “sheeple,” completely unfit for the role they play, which sounds like a stab, but more importantly shows dangerous ignorance. Because celiac disease has no degrees: there is no such thing as “a little” or “a lot” celiac. Celiac disease is a systemic autoimmune condition: either you are celiac, or you are not. One mistake, one contamination, can cause days if not weeks of intestinal discomfort, systemic inflammation, nutritional deficiencies, chronic fatigue. And in the most susceptible individuals, the consequences can be very serious.

Those working in the food service industry have an enormous responsibility. And with the exponential increase in food intolerances, allergies and genetic disorders–from celiac disease to favism–they can no longer afford to ignore these conditions.

Think of those suffering from favism, a genetic disorder caused by deficiency of the enzyme G6PD, which makes red blood cells fragile to oxidative stress. If a person with favism ingests fava beans or fava derivatives, he or she may experience an acute hemolytic crisis: red blood cells are destroyed en masse (hemolysis), leading, in severe cases, to kidney failure, cardiovascular collapse, and death if a transfusion is not administered immediately.

It is not a matter of food preference as most fools think. It is not a gluten-free eating fad for the celiac. It is a matter of public health !

Need training and proven awareness, otherwise no food and beverage license.

Why an objective detector is needed: monitoring contamination is a necessity, not a luxury

Returning to the case of celiac disease, in the real world, living with celiac disease means having to entrust one’s health to those who cook for us. But those with celiac disease know that entering a restaurant is often a real act of trust. We rely on the goodwill, training, and in many cases, let’s face it, the honesty of the staff. Some restaurateurs conscientiously prefer to forgo a celiac customer to avoid risk. Others, unfortunately, provide reassurance just to make a few extra euros, without having any real expertise on gluten, cross-contamination, and food safety.

And it is precisely in these situations that the need for a reliable, objective, rapid tool arises.

Not surprisingly, online searches for people living with celiac disease increasingly contain phrases such as, “how to know if a food contains gluten,” “gluten food analyzer,” and “gluten detector at a restaurant.”

The need is clear: people are looking for a pocket-sized device that can analyze food directly at the table, providing a reliable result in seconds, expressed in parts per million (ppm).

What does “ppm” mean and why is it so important for people with celiac disease?

The unit of measurement ppm (parts per million) is commonly used to express extremely low concentrations of one substance within another. In the case of celiac disease, it indicates how many milligrams of gluten are present in one kilogram of food.

For example:

• 20 ppm gluten means 20 milligrams of gluten per kilogram of food
• In percentage terms, it is equivalent to 0.002% concentration

This is precisely the threshold that defines a “gluten-free” food according to European and international regulations.

Yet, exceeding 20 ppm can already trigger an immune response in celiac subjects, with even serious consequences.

This is why objectively monitoring the presence of gluten is not a health nut fixation, but a clinical and practical necessity, especially when one is in uncontrolled environments, such as bars, restaurants, cafeterias, or while traveling.

The current state of technology: chemical sensors, good but (still) impractical

To date (May 2025), the market offers a few solutions for detecting gluten in food, mainly based on immunochemical tests. These devices use gluten-specific antibodies embedded in disposable capsules containing chemical reagents. Operation is simple in theory: a small food sample is placed inside the capsule, the container is closed, and the device grinds the sample and mixes it with the reagents.

If gluten is present, a reaction takes place that is optically detected and translated into a visual result (e.g., an icon or message on the display).

However, despite the efficacy of the immunological principle, these tools have some practical issues, especially for those who would like to make daily use of them or take them with them to restaurants all the time.

• Cost of single-use capsules: each test requires a single capsule that costs about 4 euros. This means that to test a first course, a main course, and a side dish, the total cost of testing would rise to about 12 euros per meal, not counting any tastings, mixed appetizers, or desserts.
• Waiting time: the chemical process takes time to complete. On average, the result arrives after 2-4 minutes, which can become inconvenient if you are dining out, perhaps with friends or in quick settings such as cafeterias and buffets.

In summary, the devices available today are scientifically sound, but logistically and economically unsustainable for frequent use. A cheaper, faster, and reusable solution capable of detecting gluten without disposable consumables and with an almost immediate response would be needed.

It is on this concrete need that the SpectraScan Gluten project, which we will explore in more detail in the following paragraphs, is grafted.

Toward an optical, reusable and affordable solution

Those who have been following me for some time may remember the series of articles in which I talked about my project on the automatic divider for recycling collection, a system based on artificial intelligence, computer vision and spectroscopy to identify materials in real time.

Just during the development of that project, I asked myself a question that was as simple as it was important:

What if spectroscopy could also be used to identify gluten in foods?

Indeed, gluten is a molecule, or rather, a collection of proteins; and like any molecule it interacts with light in specific and measurable ways. This gave rise to the idea of exploring a technology that could detect gluten optically, without using chemical reagents or disposable capsules, and most importantly, within seconds.

I relied on scientific sources, publications and, yes, even ChatGPT. The result of the research was surprising:

near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy can indeed be used to detect gluten within foods, especially when combined with advanced chemometric models such as Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression.

This discovery kicked off what is now a concrete, ambitious project that is already under development: the SpectraScan Gluten, the first pocket-sized, reusable detector for optical measurement of gluten in food, designed for people with celiac disease and designed to be used outside the home, independently and without recurring costs. Of course, I am not going to give my opinion before conducting actual trials, however, the theoretical elements are very encouraging.

SpectraScan Gluten: the optical technology that detects gluten in seconds

NIR spectroscopy is an advanced technique that analyzes the way light interacts with matter. Each molecule, including gluten, absorbs and reflects light differently depending on its chemical structure. Using a miniaturized micro-spectrometer, SpectraScan Gluten captures the diffuse reflectance spectrum of the surface of the food to be analyzed.

At that point a chemometric mathematical model comes into play, more specifically a PLS (Partial Least Squares) regression, which interprets the spectrum and translates it into a numerical figure: the concentration of gluten, expressed in parts per million (ppm).

Thus, SpectraScan Gluten will be able to detect within seconds whether a food contains more or less than the critical limit of 20 ppm, which is the threshold above which a food can no longer be considered “gluten-free” according to international regulations.

All with no chemicals, no capsules to dispose of, and a pocket-sized, lightweight, easy-to-use device designed for people like me and millions of others who live with celiac disease every day and want greater autonomy and security when eating out.

Open but protected technology: here’s how the project will be shared

I deeply believe that innovation should be accessible and shared, especially when it can tangibly improve the quality of life for millions of people.

For this reason, the technical documentation and various papers on which SpectraScan Gluten rests will be made public, but only after the first model is released to the market. Sharing will take place under a BSL (Business Source License) or similar license, which allows personal or research use but prevents any form of unauthorized commercial use.

In other words, anyone: developers, makers, associations, students, will be able to study, replicate and even improve the device for noncommercial purposes, but they will not be able to sell it or exploit it for profit without a formal agreement. Just to say that I am not willing to lose hours of sleep every day so that the first manufacturer can come along and steal the product idea to make himself even richer…

How is SpectraScan Gluten used in practice?

Operation is simple and designed for daily use by people with celiac disease.

Simply place the sensor on various points on the food surface and take multiple scans to get a complete picture.

Because it is an optical technology based on NIR reflectance, spectroscopy is sensitive only to the first few millimeters of the surface-it cannot “see inside” a closed food.

For example, if you want to check a stuffed dumpling, it is essential to cut it and also analyze its inner contents. This small gesture can mean the difference between a safe meal and a dangerous mistake.

Accuracy and reusability

SpectraScan Gluten is designed to be:

• Reusable a virtually unlimited number of times, without consumables;
• Fast: returns results in seconds, not minutes;
• Accurate, with an estimated sensitivity of ±2-3 ppm in the most critical range for celiacs: between 5 and 30 ppm.

This means being able to detect in real time whether a food exceeds the 20 ppm safety threshold, which is recognized at the European level as the upper limit for being able to define a product as “gluten-free.”

Conclusion: real innovation for those living with celiac disease every day

NIR spectroscopy, hitherto reserved for laboratories and industrial applications, can now be brought into the daily lives of millions of people with celiac disease.

With SpectraScan Gluten, we are transforming an advanced technology into a pocket-sized, accurate, fast, and affordable tool designed to tangibly improve the food safety of people with celiac disease.

This project is not just a technological challenge, but a gesture of responsibility to a community that now lives with limitations, uncertainty and constant risk every time it sits down to eat outside the home.

If you are a patient, parent, physician, developer, disseminator, investor, journalist, or simply someone who believes insocial impact innovation, I invite you to follow SpectraScan Gluten‘s journey closely.

In the coming months I will share updates, prototypes and real results. And when the time comes, I will make the documentation public for others to learn, replicate and contribute.

Want to receive updates, write an article, or get in touch for a partnership?

Write to me at my personal address info@simonerenzi.com or at my corporate email address info@renor.it.

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I have personally put on hold all the projects I wanted to work on in protest, waiting for a return to normalcy, partly because the philosophy of the Raspberry Foundation has always been to provide a micro-computer at an affordable price.

As of today’s date (August 19, 2022) the cost of the Raspberry PI4 with 8Gb RAM is 239 euros, in the basic version, i.e. without the kit provided that includes Cover, Power Supply, Micro SD etc. We are talking about 239 for the Raspberry PI alone to which we will have to add a power supply, Micro SD, Mouse and keyboard for those without and it will easily go up to 300 euros.

The same 4Gb product 2 years ago did not come to cost 90 euros.

As I said, I have stopped my projects because there is no point in setting out to develop apparatuses that later will have no market! Lately I have been working on a cat detection system. Anyone who has a garden knows that if you live in an area where the feline species proliferates, it becomes a big problem to keep the lawn tidy. Cats prefer a nice blanket of grass for them to do their business. The problem is that these create holes, cause the grass to dry out, and most importantly, a very annoying smell. Therefore, the idea was to create a system with computer vision that would identify the cat that crossed the safety threshold and water it with a small jet of water. Of course, nothing extreme, especially with respect to our animal friends, just a small warning to let him know that that is not the right area to lay down his potty. It would have been interesting to try to market a beta, because it is a new product that does not exist on the market and most importantly it would be able to understand (in a mixed human-cat scenario) that humans are not to be targeted but cats are.

Such a project requires as hardware: a Raspberry PI4 with at least 4Gb of RAM since Computer Vision algorithms are quite heavy to run for real-time video processing, a night camera, mounts for the pointing system, a small electric pump, a jet, 2 motors for the pointing system, 3D printing of the mounts for the pointing system and the apparatus containing box, 3D printing of the gears , electrical wires, connectors, seals, etc. would require an investment of no less than 400 euros with today’s Raspberry prices. To this must be added at least 2 months of development of the software part.

A question arises… How much should I sell this prototype for? At least €600. And who would spend it?

I find it difficult that there could be anyone interested in buying such a system at such a high figure. Therefore I will remain patient and wait for prices to return to what they once were. The Raspberry Foundation has confirmed that prices should return to normal starting in September…. We will be in religious silence waiting for this to happen.

Having friends and colleagues who work in the same field as me, they too are standing still there. Thank God we do not lack the 250 euros to buy a Raspberry, however, the argument is related to a “principled” perspective. A company that claims to be close to the Developer and Creator Community cannot propose prices like that! Those who work in the IT field know what I am referring to. I mean at 239€ today you buy a Notebook certainly not over-performing but including keyboard, touchpad and monitor(check for yourself by clicking on this link)

In the IT field, the scent of ethics has always been inhaled in Communities. In Developer Communities we often help each other for the sake of sharing our knowledge with others. If I don’t know something you explain it to me, tomorrow you may need me and I will reciprocate. Companies that approach developer communities are usually companies that go yes to look at making money, but they don’t do it brazenly because usually the Founders of these companies are people from the Communities… They are from ours. One would not expect to observe “Entrepreneurial Scaltro” behavior.

Before throwing gasoline on the fire, however, it is the case to wait and see if the Raspberry Foundation will keep its word and return to selling their products at the prices we were all used to.

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Everything you need as a testing platform inside a keyboard that is convenient, durable, practical, and quick to use. You connect power, a monitor via the included HDMI cable, and you can start designing and testing right away.

It is practical because you no longer need to have a raspberry in the middle of your desk with 12000 wires and peripherals attached, it is all concentrated there. A mini computer inside a simple keyboard, with GPIO connections so we can test our code by exporting it to the main project et voila, it’s done!

What it looks like

The Raspberry PI400 looks like a simple keyboard, comes with power supply, HDMI cable to connect to a monitor, SD card, power supply and Mouse. To start playing with it, all we have to do is download the new Raspberry OS (Raspbian has been discontinued) from the official site and in no time, we find ourselves with a fully functioning Linux computer. On the back are the USB ports, which are inconvenient for right-handed mouse users (practically most people) especially with the supplied mouse that does not have a very long cable, but the designers should have turned all the tracks upside down so that the position of the ports could be changed… Not too bad.

The colors are typical raspberry cover white keyboard and keys and red bottom. The plastics despite seeming of questionable quality at first glance are instead very durable.

Designed to be open

There are no screws in the Raspberry PI400; everything is designed to be disassembled as quickly as possible. Only inside there is an iron anchored plate that serves both as a support to improve the rigidity of the device and as a heat sink. There are in fact no fans, which is why it does not emit any kind of noise. There is an increasing move toward a fan-free perspective. Even in the new Apple laptops with Chip M1, the fan is completely absent.

GPIO Expansion Bay for PI400

It comes in very handy to purchase on Amazon this Expansion Bay for GPIO at this link that allows you to make connections conveniently, without having to operate on the pins of the PI400 that are located inside a recess that is not exactly easy to reach.

It thus becomes very easy to connect any kind of external sensor.

Hardware

Hardware-wise it is virtually identical to the 4Gb Raspberry PI4 except for the size of course.

• Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) 64-bit SoC @ 1.8GHz
• 4GB LPDDR4-3200
• Dual-band (2.4GHz and 5.0GHz) IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac wireless LAN
• Bluetooth 5.0, BLE
• Gigabit Ethernet
• 2 × USB 3.0 and 1 × USB 2.0 ports
• Horizontal 40-pin GPIO header
• 2 × micro HDMI ports (supports up to 4Kp60)
• H.265 (4Kp60 decode); H.264 (1080p60 decode, 1080p30 encode); OpenGL ES 3.1, Vulkan 1.0
• MicroSD card slot
• 78- or 79-key compact keyboard (depends on language variants)
• 5V DC via USB-C connector
• Operating temperature: 0°C to +50°C ambient
• Dimensions 286 mm × 122 mm × 23 mm

Raspberry PI400 GPIO extender

Honestly, I really appreciated this product, which saved me a lot of time in the prototyping phase of my projects with Raspberry PI. I highly recommend it to all designers working with this tool.

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There are 3D printers that take advantage of different technologies, but, especially at the consumer level, there are two technologies in particular: resin printing and filament printing (FDM).

The resin printer uses a polymer-based compound that solidifies when irradiated by ultraviolet rays. A UV illuminator projects UV rays onto a high-resolution monochrome LCD screen. The resin sticks to the build surface, a step-motor removes it from the FEP and proceeds with the next layer.

In Resin printers, the material is almost invariable. In FDM printers, on the other hand, the rolls can be of different materials: PLA, Nylon, ABS, PETG, etc. Each of these materials has different physical properties.

FDM printers are best suited for mechanical, electrical and general industrial prototyping due to the high strength of the printed parts.

In fact, by printing two identical objects on the two printers and trying to drop these objects from a certain height, resin printing is more like porcelain than plastic. FDM prints (when printed solidly) are very durable and can be used to prototype mechanical parts.

I am a proud owner of 5 3D printers of which 2 are resin printers, 2 are FDM printers, and the last one is a multifunction printer that allows you to change tools for milling or laser cutting.

What can 3D printing be used for?

Some examples…

To repair broken mechanical parts. Just recently I rebuilt the locking mechanism of my dishwasher that had broken.
To inventing new ones. Do you need a pen holder? What’s the point of leaving the house? Design it any way you like and print it out with not even 1€ worth of materials.

Professional uses of course are different. Let’s go and look at some of them…

Design of DOMO

DOMO’s Fusion 360 project

Shown in the image is the anti-water container of DOMO’s electronics. Our IoT remote control prototype for hospitality facilities.

Easily identifiable in the center is the housing area for a Raspberry PI4, two holes for the insertion of water-proof connectors, and the hole for the power button for the control unit. On the sides are slots for inserting the water-proof gaskets.

Gaskets can also be safely 3D printed using a special filament whose material is called TPU.

Time and attendance module design

We are currently working on this project to be provided on loan for use to medium and large companies that join our employment consulting services. It is an enterprise attendance tracking module based on the integration of an RFID reader.
Employees, equipped with the RFID TAG, will be able to easily record their check-in and check-out by passing the TAG near the reader.
Automatically, an API call will be made to our Cloud microservice that will record the employee’s attendance within our databases.

This will make coupon processing much faster and will not create delays in their delivery.

Conclusions

As you have seen, the uses of 3D printing are truly many and limited only by one’s imagination.
Keep following our articles on the world of technology.

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