PARTNERS

“Cost clarity creates profit” – that is the slogan and the vision at the same time of 4cost GmbH. 4cost, headquartered in Berlin and further locations near Frankfurt (Main), was founded 2008.

With over 28 years’ experience, 4cost is a leading provider of software and services for cost estimation, costing and cost control. 4cost creates cost clarity in all phases of the product life cycle and is the only provider worldwide that combines parametric with bottom-up costing.

The core of the company is 4cost-aces, a software that is used for precise cost estimation in very early project phases. This means that the costs of electronic and mechanical assemblies and software can be reliably estimated at a very early stage with around 80% less effort. This development was the breakthrough to more than 2000 successfully completed projects with well-known customers such as Airbus, MAN, Siemens, Kuka, Liebherr, Thyssen Krupp and many others.

Aerosint is a Belgian SME company founded in 2016. The company currently employs 7 engineers and holds 4 patents on its innovative technology. 

Aerosint has developed an alternative powder re-recoating system that, instead of uniformly spreading just one single powder material, selectively deposits two (or more) powders to form a single layer containing two materials. This technology is called “Selective Powder Deposition” as it enables full 3-dimensional control over material placement in any powder bed Additive Manufacturing process. 

Selective Powder Deposition unlocks a number of very unique use cases in Additive Manufacturing, Powder Metallurgy and beyond. Some of Aerosint's research topics are bi-metallic L-PBF, zero waste SLS or the binderfree printing of ceramics or metals.

As a service provider for model, sample and prototype construction, the company supports its customers in all stages of product development, from design drafts to CNC and CAM programming and component production to post-processing and finalisation. In doing so, the possibilities of conventional model making according to classic craft methods are optimally combined with the modern technologies of rapid prototyping such as FDM (3D printer), stereolithography, laser sintering and their subsequent processes. In this way, models can be produced from a wide variety of target materials in the shortest possible time and precisely for the required purpose. In particular, the company is one of the few in Germany to offer production on the Lumex Avance-25 hybrid system, which offers a unique selling point worldwide: It combines selective laser sintering (SLS) / selective laser melting (SLM) and high speed milling (HSM). In this way, workpieces with 3D coolant channels for tool moulds, extra-light components with lattice structures or filigree workpieces with deep contours, among others, are produced - and all this economically and with high precision.

Laser-based processes open up new possibilities in product and process design due to the precision and flexibility of machining, coupled with high machining speeds and high efficiency. The development of new beam sources in combination with fast beam guidance systems has led to a significant increase in the performance of the processes. The blz sees itself as a link between basic scientific research and industrial application. Our ambitious scientists research and develop applied laser technology. In this way, we support companies in opening up new fields of photonics application - from analysis to implementation. The focus is on metal and plastics processing, electronics production and additive manufacturing as well as on the field of precision processing with short-pulsed laser systems. In addition, the blz trains and advises in the area of laser protection and offers training courses on all aspects of laser material processing. Through numerous research and development projects, we have acquired extensive knowledge in the field of laser system technology. We use this knowledge to design and implement customised processes and optical systems.

At CRM Group, the activities are centered on the production, transformation, coating and use of metallic materials. Since the year 1948, 265 engineers and technicians offer R&D and technology solutions focusing on the development of innovative processes and products that create value for our industrial partners. The company combines skilled and experienced research teams with unparalleled testing facilities covering the whole manufacture chain of metals, from raw materials to advanced metal applications, ranging in size from laboratory scale to pilot and even semi-industrial production lines. The Hybrid & Additive department is working on the complete value chain of AM, including development of new high performance alloys for AM, development of powders from recycled materials, direct metal deposition technologies with various complementary equipment’s (3 Laser cladding, 2 WAAM, 1 WLAM and 1 Thermal spray) for manufacturing, repair or surface coating of 3D parts, surface and thermal post treatments of parts (chemical or electro-chemical polishing, plasma polishing, tribofinishing), assembly of parts (laser, electron beam or hybrid welding, friction stir welding, etc.), complete characterization equipment’s for standard (chemistry, metallography or mechanical) analyses and in-use properties (stress corrosion cracking, etc.).

The teaching and research area "High Performance Processes in Manufacturing Engineering and Rapid Prototyping" in the Department of "Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics" at the FH Aachen is dealing with the application and further development of additive manufacturing processes since 2000 and has achieved international visibility through numerous publications in technical journals and at technical conferences.  Currently, 20 employees and assistants are researching at the department, which is divided into three research groups with different research foci.

Depending on the materials and thus the process technology, they are divided into the fields of polymers, metal and ceramics.

The focus on polymers can be successfully served with different plants of all AM processes.

In the field of metal, especially the L-PBF, small desktop systems (SLM 50 Realizer) allow basic research as well as large systems (GE XLine 200R, building chamber: 800*400*500mm^3) for the series production of high-volume components.

Since 1922 the fem is the world’s only independent Institute for Precious Metals Research. The aim of our research in the fields of materials science and surface technology is to develop pioneering solutions for the industry.

The Research Institute for Precious Metals and Metal Chemistry in Schwäbisch Gmünd deals with various issues of material and surface technology. We are specialized in precious metals and galvanic surface treatment. Other priorities are corrosion, analytics, light metals and coating layers, pyhsical and chemical layer depositions, material physics as well as material and layer characterization.

Basic research and applied research are closely linked at the fem – following our conviction that innovative solutions are only achieved if one has detailed knowledge of the basics. This also benefits our services: The fem provides a comprehensive range of services with the latest equipment and instruments. Around 200 procedures and test methods are accredited according to DIN EN ISO / IEC 17025. Our customers and partners are from all sectors of the metalworking industry and business, from universities, research institutions and other public institutions.

With over 500 employees and more than 19 500 m² of net floor space, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT is one of the world's most important contract research and development institutes in the field of laser development and laser applications. Its core competencies include the development of new laser beam sources and components, laser measurement and testing technology, and laser manufacturing technology. This includes additive manufacturing in particular, but also cutting, ablation, drilling, welding and soldering, as well as surface treatment and micro-manufacturing. The Fraunhofer ILT is also involved in laser system technology, process monitoring and control, modelling and the entire system technology. Our services range from feasibility studies and process qualification to the customer-specific integration of laser processes into the respective production line. The Fraunhofer ILT is integrated into the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, which is one of the most important research institutions in Germany with 75 institutes, around 29,000 employees and an annual research volume of 2.8 billion euros.

The Fraunhofer IPA - one of the largest institutes of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft - was founded in 1959 and employs almost 1000 people. The research and development focus is on organisational and technological tasks from production. Methods, components and devices up to complete machines and plants are developed, tested and exemplarily applied by the institute. The 15 specialist departments of the Fraunhofer IPA cover the entire field of production technology. They are coordinated by six business units and work in an interdisciplinary manner with industrial companies in the automotive, mechanical and plant engineering, electronics and microsystems technology, energy, medical and biotechnology and process industry sectors.

Aalen University is one of the strongest research universities for applied sciences in Germany. A central university-wide research focus is 3D printing with smart materials and new material combinations.

In innovative manufacturing processes for 3D printing, for example, components made of multi-material composites, magnetic materials, hard metals or optical plastics are realized. Intelligent post-processing methods are also being researched in order to realize additional component functionalities. For this purpose, Aalen University has state-of-the-art production facilities (e.g. laser technology in the Laser Application Centre - LAZ) and analysis methods. These create an excellent starting point for the further development of 3D printing with partners from business, science and society.

Both additive and hybrid manufacturing are becoming more and more relevant for industrial manufacturing. In recent years, more and more additive manufacturing processes for metals have reached a level of technology that allows reliable production and enables applications in all industrial sectors. With increasing maturity, however, the requirements with regard to reliable mechanical characteristics of the built-up components are also rising. Due to the sometimes unique physical conditions in additive manufacturing, microstructures are created in the components that sometimes differ significantly from those in conventional manufacturing. The best example is the powder bed-based laser beam melting of metals, which, due to the small melt volumes, generates cooling gradients that are only known from scientific rapid solidification methods. For a reliable design of components that are produced by means of additive manufacturing or, in the hybrid case, partly by means of additive manufacturing, precise knowledge is required not only about static mechanical properties, but also about dynamic mechanical properties, i.e. fatigue properties. With its laboratory for materials and strength testing, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences has excellent equipment, ranging from metallography and static strength testing to dynamic strength testing, and will address the topic of component safety and component design of additive or hybrid manufactured components.

The Centre of Excellence in “Process Analysis and Technology (PA&T)” at the Reutlingen University is committed to industry-driven and application-oriented research in the field of scientifically based production and intelligent design.

The major focus of PA&T lies in the application of optical and spectroscopic methods which includes also spectral imaging for process monitoring and control together with multivariate data analysis. The objective of the PA&T group is to supply quantitative and qualitative information at all stages of a process as well as to develop process control strategies. PA&T covers the whole range of optical spectroscopy (UV, Vis, NIR and FT-IR including Raman- and multidimensional fluorescence spectroscopy) as well as spectral imaging of all wavelength ranges in a macro-, micro- and nano- resolution (“near field spectroscopy”). Together with a broad range of software tools in multivariate data analysis, Design-of-Experiment (DoE) and pattern recognition, PA&T offers a multimodal interdisciplinary approach for process control in intelligent manufacturing.

Hörnlein Unformtechnik GmbH develops and produces technically sophisticated assemblies and systems for the mobility of the future. The ideas and products developed by Hörnlein make vehicles more reliable, cleaner and more economical. This applies in particular to drive systems. Together with its customers, Hörnlein is doing pioneering work in the field of electromobility and hybridisation of automobiles. The company brings distinct expertise in the field of digitalisation and networked production of the future to the network.

Huber-tec uses the porgramm „Siemens NX-12“ for constructing, which enables reading of  any data with common sizes e.g. PRT, STEP, IGES, DXF etc.  

Using CAD/CAM systems has the advantage to weld with our highly modern laser machinery 3D geometrys on any freeform surfaces as a result of the 8axis automatical machines.

3D CAD data of clients or scanned STL-modells, with our mobile scanner „Zeiss T-Scan“ are the basis for constructing. Furthermore, a surface comparison is possible to confirm the data with the real component and verify welding.  

Laser Cladding Venture NV (LCV) was founded in 2015 and is a spin-off company of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO). The research background enabled LCV to build up a large expertise in materials and a variety of laser cladding processes (internal coating, high performance cladding, 3D printing, etc.). The LCV team consists of highly skilled welding and project engineers and a team of R&D engineers. The company offers coatings and repairs as well as 3D printing using LMD as a service at the highest industrial level.

Laserco DT is a Belgian company, specialized in metal cladding by mean of a power laser. Laser cladding of metal items (steel, cast iron, non-ferrous) consists in fusion of metallic powder through a power laser beam leading, as a result, to a genuine welded joint with the basis metal with the advantage of introducing a small amount of heat: a strong metallurgical bond without dimensional integrity problem. Laser cladding process is able to add on the considered item an added metallic layer having the requested properties to guaranty their functionality. We can consider hard alloy cladding or extra-hard, resistant against abrasion, erosion or cavitation, including the possibility of tungsten carbide adjunction, or, even, diamond for the ultimate extreme applications, as well as cladding against corrosion or simply adding metal for dimensional reconstruction. The laser can also be used, without metal add, for localized surface hardening heat treatment. We are acting in most of the industrial sectors such as steel industry, concrete sector and cement, heavy industry, oil and gas, mining, automotive, mechanical sector and infrastructure.

Lithoz GmbH is an R&D-driven SME that specializes in the development and production of materials and additive manufacturing systems for the 3D printing of high-performance ceramics. Components produced by the patented lithography-based Ceramic Manufacturing (LCM) meet the high levels of density, stability, and precision required by the ceramics industry and ceramic research and can be used for different applications ranging from classic technical ceramic components over casting cores and molds to implants and medical devices.

Merkle & Partner GbR is a specialist for technical and engineering calculations and simulations. With over 31 years of company history, the Merkle & Partner engineering office is one of the first service providers of engineering calculations and simulations in Germany and has specialised in simulations in demanding niches (complex physics, complex geometry).

At the headquarters in Heidenheim and the branch offices in Homburg/Saar,

Wolfsburg & Erfurt, the approximately 50 employees handle up to 500 customer projects each year from the core areas of structural analysis, flow simulation and virtual product development.  

The latest and most powerful hardware and software is used for this purpose.

Well-known companies from the fields of mechanical and plant engineering, aerospace technology, automotive, defense, electrical engineering, nuclear technology, medical technology, shipbuilding, rail vehicles, commercial vehicles and construction machinery are among the customer base and rely on the competence and experience of Merkle & Partner.

MESSOTRON was founded in 1973 and is an established manufacturer of sensors and measuring technology with a focus on inductive displacement sensors and eddy current sensors for a wide range of industries.

The manufacturing range includes displacement transducers of up to 1000mm travel and pressure-resistant versions up to 1000bar. Applications include general mechanical engineering, automotive, railway technology, construction, mining, hydraulics, production and testing equipment.

In addition to a broad portfolio of standardized product lines, the company also offers special solutions and solutions to complex technical requirements. For decades, the guiding principle "Precision made in Germany" has stood for absolute customer proximity and maximum flexibility in the development and manufacture of sensors and measurement technology.

With the granule-based 3D printing process of Q.big 3D, manufacturers of large components can finally benefit from the fast and efficient production of prototypes, molds and end-use parts. The solutions from Q.big 3D accelerate your development processes and reduce manufacturing costs. This highly efficient process thus enables Q.big 3Ds customers to take the lead in their industry.

Q.big 3D supports its customers in design for additive manufacturing, component optimization and offers 3D printing services for large-volume components.

The company has over 60 years of experience in the field of industrial material processing. Founded in 1961 by Wilfried Rauch as a joinery, the company specialised in CNC milling of thermosets and thermoplastics from 1994 to 2005. Series parts made of thermosets and thermoplastics are produced on modern machining centres with robot loading, primarily for medical equipment and mechanical engineering. With the acquisition of an EOSINT P800 for PEEK in 2013, the portfolio was expanded to include additive manufacturing. The company specialised in high-performance plastics such as EOS PEEK HP3. The carbon fibre-filled PEKK / HT-23 has been offered as a world-first service provider since 2019. Since 2020, three different grades of PPS powders have been processed using the SLS method with process parameters developed in-house. Like PEEK, PPS with its special electrical and chemical properties is predestined for applications in the electrical and chemical industry. Another field of application is fuel cell technology. Due to the high-quality materials, the focus of activity is on series applications. However, prototyping is also offered for the larger number of SLS materials. In addition, the company uses the novel "OligoThermoMelt" (OTM) process for laser-sintering of high-performance plastics. The production process, developed and patented by Airbus Innovations Group, with assimilated temperature control, increased laser power and structured component placement with support assistance, is a milestone in the processing of high-performance plastics in the powder bed process. This new printing technology enables higher quality surfaces and a significant improvement in mechanical properties. With the next generation of laser-sintering machines and novel software, this process will open up new possibilities for specific industrial applications.

The research profile of the Chair of Hybrid Additive Manufacturing at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum builds on previous experience in the field of innovative and promising additive manufacturing processes. The combination of the two eponymous fields of "Hybrid" and "Additive Manufacturing" represents an unusual combination both in the university scientific environment and in industrial application. These two versatile complexes of topics are brought together in research and then further developed. For example, the choice of materials is expanded by hybrid materials, process strategies for reproducible and robust additive manufacturing are derived or multifunctional components or component properties are generated.

Scansonic MI (Mechatronic Innovation) is an independent company part of the B.I.G. - berlin.industrial.group, a group of different companies in Berlin-Marzahn. The company emerged from an engineering office and has been active for almost 20 years. In particular, the high innovative power of the industry in which the company operates requires a continuous innovation process within the company. Scansonic MI offers systems and solutions in the fields of laser welding, laser soldering and laser hardening as well as precise sensor technology for quality monitoring. The products are used especially in automotive engineering, rail vehicle construction and energy technology. Scansonic is the world market leader in laser-based joining systems for car body construction.

SEKELS GmbH was founded in 1993 and develops, manufactures and trades technical products in the field of magnetism. These include cores and parts, customer-specific components, magnet systems and magnetic shielding. In addition, SEKELS' service portfolio includes measurement and development services as well as self-developed measuring devices for magnetic fields. As a specialist dealer for the product lines of VACUUMSCHMELZE GmbH & Co. KG, SEKELS offers its customers both extensive warehousing and detailed technical advice. With approximately 20 employees (more than half of whom are physicists and engineers), SEKELS currently serves more than 600 customers in 410 countries worldwide.

Sensortherm GmbH develops, produces and distributes intelligent IR measurement technology. The production spectrum includes: Partial Radiation Pyrometers, Quotient Pyrometers, Highspeed Pyrometers, Temperature Control Pyrometers (PID Controllers), Pyrometer Optimised PID Program Temperature Controllers, Infrared Switches (Hot Metal Detector), Thermography Cameras, Line Scanners, Calibration Illuminators, Instrument Specific Software, Instrument Specific Accessories. The services offered include: Pyrometer maintenance/calibration, repairs, creation of factory test certificates to indicate measured value deviation, creation of factory certificates, advice on measurement problems, support during commissioning.

Sirris is the Collective Centre for the Belgian Technological Industry. We support the Belgian industry to develop and implement new technologies through a combination of basic research, where we build up knowledge, and applied research, where we implement this knowledge. Sirris is both association and research center.

Sirris has a wide experience in AM processes for 30 years and has acquired an important know-how by taking part in several innovation projects in Belgium and in Europe. Sirris owns 15 different AM technologies in-house, including 3 powder bed fusion machines (EBM and 2 LBM).

Sirris has a broad range of standard characterisation techniques in-house for mechanical and microstructural characterisation of materials and coatings.

Conventionally, silicone products are produced through liquid injection moulding, a process that is expensive, lengthy and wasteful, and is limited to mass production of identical parts. Spectroplast’s disruptive innovation provides the world’s first Silicone

Additive Manufacturing (SAM) technology at industrial scale. SAM fulfils a longstanding market need for personalised silicone products and enables for the first time the production of mass customized end-use silicone products that perform identically to injection moulded parts for various markets ranging from general sealing solutions to life-enhancing and life-saving healthcare and medical applications. The material technology revolves around the modification of silicones to overcome, on both the material as well as on the processing sides, the factors that have thus far prevented silicones from being accessible to 3D printing, namely the silicone’s high viscosity and high temperature solidification point. Spectroplast plans to provide its breakthrough solution for the fabrication of customised end-use silicone products for up to 30,000 units per annum at a 100 times shorter lead time, 99 % energy saving and with zero material waste compared to liquid injection moulding by 2020. By going beyond prototyping scale, Spectroplast’s SAM is established as the next golden standard for silicone production by enabling mass-customised manufacturing of end-use silicone products.

Customised products tailored to specific needs are an ever-growing necessity in our society. For example, whilst our bodies appear similar, they greatly vary in intricate details. Therefore, customized products such as life-saving medical implants as well as life-enhancing healthcare and consumer products like personalised prostheses, headphones or hearing protection are becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. That is why we believe it is time for a paradigm shift from mass production to mass customization.

The University Group Applied Laser Technology and Photonics (AG alp) is characterised by an internationally recognised research profile and a high level of competence in additive manufacturing, laser technology, materials processing, materials engineering as well as metrology and sensor technology. This is impressively demonstrated by a large number of industry and publicly funded projects as well as numerous national and international conference participations and over 250 publications.  

The working group has high-quality equipped laboratories (1,800m2) with all industry-relevant 3D printing processes of laser melting (SLM) and laser sintering (SLS), hybrid SLM milling machine, powder laser deposition welding, plastic printers (FDM, Polyjet, stereolithography) as well as for micro applications via laser direct writing. In its extension, AG alp covers the complete technological process chain from powder analysis, printing, thermal post-treatment in furnaces and hot isostatic press to post-processing and comprehensive metrological characterisation and metallography.  processing and comprehensive metrological characterisation and metallography.

The focus of the work of Prof. Masset's group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at TU Koszalin is on the development of powder materials for additive manufacturing and the functionalisation of materials. In addition, the group deals with material and component characterisation as well as design processes for additive manufacturing, component testing and application as well as simulations, surface treatment and corrosion investigations.

Founded in 2016, Vibrosonic GmbH is a pioneer in the field of medical technology focused on providing people with hearing impairment a close-to-normal hearing experience.

Our core invention, the Vibrosonic Hearing Contact Lens®, is placed directly onto the eardrum using a customized silicone mold. This way, direct stimulation of the natural hearing process is triggered. The result is a broad sound spectrum, covering high frequencies for speech comprehension and low frequencies for a striking experience when listening to music for example. Our objective is to develop the first invisible hearing aid based on our core technology.

Die World Precision Instruments Germany GmbH ist ein weltweit führender Anbieter innovativer Laborlösungen im Bereich Life Sciences. WPI bietet 20 Jahre Erfahrung in der System- und Applikationsentwicklung von optischer Sensorik und Fluidik. Zum Portfolio des Unternehmens gehören dabei unter anderem Lösungen im Bereich Mikrofluidik, wie Produkte zur Analyse von Blutzellen und Mikrofluidik-Pumpen für Zellkulturen. Daneben gehören auch LED-basierende Detektorsysteme für eine oder mehrere  Wellenlängen sowie UV/VIS Spektrometer für Absorption und Fluoreszenz, faseroptische Flusszellen mit Mikrolitervolumen und optischen Pfadlängen von 10 mm bis zu 5000 mm zum Sortiment.