User report PMT GmbH
PMT GmbH, founded in 2005 and based in North Rhine-Westphalia, advises its customers both during the product development process and in the optimization of existing products with regard to the structural design and the use of suitable manufacturing processes and materials.
Additive manufacturing
We started looking at additive manufacturing very early on. We deal with all new manufacturing processes because we always want to offer our customers the best solution for their respective task. This sometimes also includes abandoning existing manufacturing strategies and breaking new ground, ”explains Axel Meier, PMT's managing director.
“When realizing a project, we examine the best technology at the best price for our customers. We find the most cost-effective manufacturing process for the component and / or the assembly. We also take care of a smooth change in production technology for existing components, provided that this is an economic advantage for our customers.
“We consider 3D printing to be a technology of the future and would like to help shape the future in this area. In our opinion, additive manufacturing is still in its infancy and we therefore see huge potential here. "
Axel Meier, executive manager of PMT GmbH
Economical production of small batches
It has already been possible to design the customer's existing gripper components in such a way that weight and cost savings are possible. The possibilities of the new EL-102 only became apparent in a more recent project. “A housing for a control unit was required for a customer in the animal feed industry. Such housings have to meet certain general conditions that can only be achieved with an adapted housing design. Unfortunately, standard housings are not suitable for this purpose and producing an injection mold for it would go far beyond the budget for the low batch sizes. In this case, a 3D printed case was the first choice. With the EL-102 from EVO-tech, we have succeeded in providing both housing parts quickly and inexpensively. In our opinion, this is actually the only economically viable procedure with the small batch size, ”says Meier happily.
“The challenge with parts of this size is that manufacturing-related component distortion has a direct impact on function. With our installation space temperature control and a stable construction process, we have succeeded in manufacturing the housing components with our machine in such a way that all parts fit into one another, ”adds Kaltenbrunner.
FFF process with great potential
Meier currently sees the greatest potential in the FFF process for such applications, because the variety of materials and the comparatively low machine costs represent the most economical combination for him. "We are happy to have found a partner in EVO-tech who not only supplies solid machine technology, but also helps us quickly with questions and offers good technical service," says the PMT managing director, praising the cooperation with EVO-tech.
“Reproducibility and thus the possibility of producing series parts is a key challenge in additive manufacturing. With the EL-102 we are taking a big step forward in this regard. "
Markus Kaltenbrunner, executive manager of EVO-tech GmbH
3D Drucker EL-102
Enables the simultaneous printing of several components and the processing of large amounts of material up to a size of 500 x 400 x 510 mm (W x D x H).
More about EL-102