Efficient and safe additive manufacturing: EOS and Grenzebach deepen their partnership
HAMLAR, KRAILLING/ Germany. To further advance the additive manufacturing of metal and polymer parts, technology provider EOS and automation specialist Grenzebach deepen their partnership. "It is essential for us to further automate and network industrial 3D printing as intelligently as possible with different processes. For years, we have been appreciating the exchange and cooperation with Grenzebach as our technology partner and now, we will take this next step together", says Dr. Marco Nock, Senior Vice President Business Unit Systems and Innovation Management, EOS.
Long-standing collaboration and development
Since the start of the cooperation, a portfolio of periphery equipment was developed. These included automation systems and transport solutions for the respective system platforms at first. In 2017, the much-acclaimed innovation project NextGenAM, which aimed to realize the fully automated series production of quality metal components, was a starting point. An aerospace and automotive manufacturer from Baden-Württemberg used the automated solution, in which Grenzebach had been involved from the very beginning as a consulting and solutions partner of EOS. Together, the project was made a success.
The portfolio was extended during the partnership and is still growing. More machines in the metal sector, such as the unpacking station, were handed over to Grenzebach. The developed solutions in the metal sector were adapted to the industrial 3D printing of polymer components. In the POLYLINE project, supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), a fully automated cell is realized. An automotive OEM from Bavaria as a customer takes care that the solution meets all requirements of the automotive industry. Within the scope of the project, the EOS P 500 will be equipped with the fully automated feeding of the exchange frames.
More efficient, safe and holistic
The partners, cooperating in research and customer projects, develop individual configurations and derive holistic process and production solutions, which meet the respective requirements of common customers. They focus on the highest possible utilization of the industrial 3D printer and the accompanying periphery, efficient and robust production processes and optimal occupational health and safety production.
Grenzebach has also continually extended its portfolio for industrial 3D printing in the past months. In addition to 3D printer-specific automation and transport solutions, Grenzebach developed automatic storage as well as bin picking and sorting solutions to further advance the automation of up-and downstream process steps. "We have already demonstrated our expertise with automated guided vehicles, robotics and efficient material flow in the automated transport of parts within process chains", Oliver Elbert, Head of Additive Manufacturing at Grenzebach, explains, "in the future, we will also contribute our know-how in further steps of the production process of additive manufacturing. There are still many processes which we have to automate on our way to a Lights-Out-Factory.“
The automation of additive manufacturing is a clear growth area for the medium-sized Grenzebach Group. The close and trustful cooperation with partners such as EOS is a key factor of success for Oliver Elbert. "Only with strong partnerships in the market, in which everyone contributes their part, we are able to develop efficient solutions for industrial 3D printers users. We are happy to further deepen our partnership with EOS, which has grown over the years." In the future, Grenzebach will provide more machines in the direct as well as indirect environment of the EOS 3D printers and will thus open new opportunities and fields of interaction to address the specific industry and customer requirements even more efficiently: intelligent, safe and flexible.
