Hall 5 is now open: production lines for large orders & expansion for 3D printing

And finally we did it… our new hall now has been inaugurated also officially with a team event. Its strategic significance for project is twofold: “We installed the production line here for the largest order in our company’s history. At this site, we produce several AGV/cobot solutions for the USA every month”, reports Jan Hanenkamp.

“But it wasn’t just due to this order – Hall 5 also gives us even more flexibility for our production, as we also now carry out our 3D printing activities here. This addition is making us even more efficient while also providing an answer to supply bottlenecks”, adds Sebastian Münnekhoff. The use of 3D printing has two goals: Products that we design for new machines or adaptations of existing machines can now be manufactured for testing in a timely manner. Addionally, we are now also able to supply spare parts more quickly.

“We print a huge variety of products here – from casing for new electrical designs to various mechanical parts such as adapters, templates, guides and more”, says Daniel Gendritzki from the development team. Project currently has eight 3D printers that use two different technologies: FDM printers (Fused Deposition Modeling), where plastic sheets are melted layer by layer and line by line, and recently we also have SLS printers (Selective Laser Sintering), where a plastic material in powder form is melted point by point (“selectively”) to create the components layer by layer. And what is the conclusion by now? Has 3D printing been a success at project? “Definitely!” says Daniel Gendritzki. “This is why we’ve already ordered the next 3D printer.”