The innovative 3D printer consists of modular assemblies. This allows each company to decide which modules are required for production.
Oliver Kussinger | Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm
Suitably sized systems with lengthy machine uptimes are required for the industrial-scale production of 3D plastic parts to a high degree of component accuracy. These systems cost upwards of 100,000 euros to buy, making them unprofitable for small and medium-sized enterprises. At the Institute for Chemistry, Material and Product Development (OHM-CMP), Technische Hochschule Nürnberg is researching modular, cost-effective machine concepts for the industrial-scale production of plastic parts with additive manufacturing. Prof. Dr. Michael Koch’s and his team’s research project “Economic Additive Manufacturing by Modularising Machine Designs for Low-volume Production in SMEs” aims to develop 3D printers that meet industrial requirements, yet are affordable for SMEs.
3D printers are composed of assemblies that are becoming standard. This enables the key components to be used universally in various machine designs. This modularity allows the system to be expanded in stages in line with companies’ requirements. So for a relatively low purchase price, a system can be implemented to an industrial standard and then expanded by additional modules to broaden its function. This allows each company to decide which modules are required for production.
In order to integrate additive low-volume manufacturing into SMEs, the research team analyses the company processes. Industrial cooperation partners in the research project would like to market the newly designed systems at the end of this project, develop them further or use them in their own production.