Manufacturing and Production in the Automotive Industry

100 Percent Burr-free Machining

Burrs during chip removal / cutting

Avoid burrs by optimizing processes or remove them afterwards using individual process solutions.

Our Solution

Analysis and evaluation of influencing and disturbance variables in burr formation in sub-processes and process chains
Optimized manufacturing technologies for mechanical processing
Machine-specific implementation without cycle time increase
Geometry- and component-specific design of additional process steps such as free abrasive cutting, abrasive flow machining, abrasive brushing, etc.

Your Benefits

Efficient machining processes without burr formation – 100 percent burr-free
High edge quality with and without edge breakage
Reduced costs for component inspection and finishing

100 Percent Reliable Chip Removal

Contamination and chips on the component

We develop individual cleaning strategies for each customer to remove production residues on surfaces and internal structures.

Our Solution

Reproduction of the original geometry by means of additive manufacturing, considering the use of measuring equipment and inspection windows
Use of experimental investigations with high-speed recordings as well as simulative solution approaches
Development of customer-specific washing regimes and nozzle geometries

Your Benefits

100 percent chip removal without chemicals
Removal of coarse burrs and adhesions in individual and series production
Process time reduction of 60 percent possible

Additive Manufacturing

Process strategies for new alloys

Solutions for processing difficult-to-weld alloys (e.g. titanium aluminide or Inconel) are being developed along the entire additive process chain.

Our Solution

Evaluate production limits of the machine
Recommend actions for AM-compatible design
Produce test specimens for evaluating manufacturing parameters during laser beam melting

Your Benefits

Qualify suitable measuring systems for additive components
Fabrication of cooling and lubrication channels according to requirements
Process reliability for high temperature resistant and wear resistant components

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Additive Manufactured Spare Parts

Spare parts in hard-to-reach markets

Potential analyses help to produce demonstrators for AM spare parts.

Our Solution

Analysis of potential AM components
Demonstrators for evaluation of manufacturing costs/processes
Qualification of AM equipment for setting up local micro-production facilities

Your Benefits

Inventory is minimized.
Transportation costs and delivery times are reduced.
Subsequent design adaptations of spare parts
New business models possible through licensing

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Efficient Cleaning Solutions

Residues in cleaning processes

CO2-based process for fast, dry and residue-free cleaning replaces time-consuming and cost-intensive wet-chemical cleaning solutions.

Our Solution

CO₂-blasting process for efficient cleaning of sensitive electronic and optical components as well as surfaces prior to bonding, joining or painting
Residue-free removal of interfering layers, burrs, coolants and lubricants with CO₂

Your Benefits

Efficient, low-cost and environmentally friendly cleaning
Reduced cleaning time, since dry and residue-free
Manual to fully automated process solutions can be implemented

Efficient and Residue-free Machining through Cryogenic Chipping

Workpiece quality and tool wear

Tool cooling with CO₂ and oil-air aerosol increases productivity in machining many times over.

Our Solution

Tool cooling with CO₂ and oil-air aerosol for minimum quantity lubrication
For 3- and 5-axis milling as an alternative to minimum quantity lubrication or as a substitute for cooling lubricant emulsions

Your Benefits

30 – 50 percent higher productivity compared to MQL/TB due to CO₂ cooling directly on the tool cutting edge compared to dry machining
Longer tool life due to reduced tool wear
Increased workpiece quality due to lack of influence on the edge of the component
Environmentally friendly cooling compared to the use of cooling lubricants

Development of High-precision Jointed-arm Kinematics

Lack of special machines reduces efficiency

Achieve manufacturing tolerances of ± 0.1 mm maximum when machining lightweight materials from batch size 1.

Our Solution

New hybrid drive concept consisting of gear motor and torque motor
New adaptive controller model for active vibration compensation
Stiffness-optimized structure and linear unit
Control via Siemens 840d SL
Measurement systems on the output side

Your Benefits

Quality improvement through high-precision path control in assembly and milling processes
Highly flexible machining of large components possible without reclamping

High-performance Machining of Demanding Components

Efficiency with very tight tolerances

Tuning and combining tools, parameters and path strategies enables new processes that allow fast and reliable production down to the "µ".

Our Solution

Evaluation of different tool concepts and strategies
Parameter optimization

Your Benefits

Significant savings in tooling costs
Stable processes without spontaneous tool failure
Output quantity is increased

Implementation of AI Models for Joining Technology

Joining processes with optimization potential

Digitization potential in joining technology is identified and establishment of a data-driven, networked workflow is supported.

Our Solution

Process monitoring with artificial intelligence
Monitor joining quality
Establish workflow for data preparation

Your Benefits

Increase productivity by up to 30 percent
Maintain and expand competitiveness
Reduce inspection effort and produce high-quality welded joints

Automated Finishing of Internal Areas

Machining of hard-to-reach areas

A combination of flow grinding with magnetorheological fluids enables deburring, polishing and edge rounding in channels with cross-sectional extensions and hard-to-reach cavities.

Our Solution

Use magnetorheological fluids to adjust the properties of abrasive media in a spatially and temporally resolved manner
Monitor abrasive media properties and process parameters online

Your Benefits

Economical, reproducible and automated finishing of internal areas that cannot be reached with conventional methods
Flow optimization of cooling channels and adjustment of a defined mass flow rate
Post-processing of additively manufactured components is simplified.

Automated Tool Change Based on Process Data

Reduce high non-productive times

Integrated monitoring of machines ensures automated change of worn tools. In this way, machine utilization can be optimized.

Our Solution

Monitor and measure wear
Autonomous changing of cutting inserts when the wear limit is exceeded
Create individual change criteria

Your Benefits

Increase machine utilization by reducing non-productive time
Robust, economical processes through high component quality
Optimization mode for autonomous parameter optimization

Process-reliable CFRP Finishing

Industrial robot as an alternative

Optimize cutting tools and strategies and quantify component damage for maximum productivity.

Our Solution

Customized optimization of machining processes
Automated and quantifiable quality assurance
Develop chip concepts to meet requirements

Your Benefits

Increased productivity through optimized tool concepts
Quantifiable criteria for quality assurance in the series production process
Reduce investment costs and increase flexibility with industrial robots

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Workpiece Mount for Stable Processes

Minimizing vibrations

Specific investigations of the dynamic characteristics of components subject to vibration help to reduce costs and increase component quality.

Our Solution

Measure tools, machines and fixtures in the process
Optimize tools, manufacturing parameters and machining strategy for minimum machining time
Optimization of the fixture (FEM)

Your Benefits

Reduce wear by up to 35 percent
Significantly increase surface quality and position tolerances
Reduce machining time by 30 percent

Reproducible Efficient Manufacturing

Fluctuating quality of subcontracted parts

Fluctuating manufacturing quality for single and series components. Processes, product quality and material handling are improved based on data.

Our Solution

Reproducibility of manufacturing processes is increased.
Influence of environmental influences on product quality is reduced.
Intuitive data management through connection and development of IoT systems
Integration of alternative technologies to ensure required quality standards

Your Benefits

Significantly reduce measurement effort and inspection scope
Robust economic production
Avoid rejects

Robot-based Repair Solution for Components

Manual repair processes are inefficient

Automated process steps for the repair of machine components are combined in a holistic process chain and thus made more efficient.

Our Solution

Camera- and AI-based damage analysis
Fully automated process steps for cleaning, cutting and grinding
Integrate component data sets for quality control

Your Benefits

Fully automated repair processes increase productivity.
Flexibility when combined with other tasks, e.g. quality control in new part production or for failure analysis
Reduce investment costs and space requirements

Robotergeführte Bearbeitung

Welding Simulation

Incorrect settings during welding cost time and money

Welding simulation can reproduce individual welding processes and the behavior of a welding assembly during welding.

Our Solution

Virtual validation and calculation of real welding processes
Evaluate simulation results and derive optimization strategies for distortion
Design process windows and clamping tools on the computer

Your Benefits

Replaces cost-intensive pre-series tests
Savings (personnel and material) of up to 70 percent possible
Insights enable optimization of temperature, residual stress and warpage.

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Ultrasonic-assisted Machining to Extend Tool Life

Avoid manual finishing

Ultrasonic superimposed milling, drilling or grinding operations reduce process forces. Specific machining technologies extend equipment service life.

Our Solution

Low-damage machining with higher metal removal rates of ceramic materials and fiber composites with thin-walled complex geometry
Machining of carbon or glass fiber reinforced plastics, glass, metals, CMC, and ceramics is made possible with process reliability.
Technology development to extend the service life of milling tools and avoid machining defects (e.g. fiber pull-out)

Your Benefits

Process-reliable machining with innovative materials
Reduction of process forces and temperatures
Improvement of chip evacuation

Non-destructive Component Testing

Avoid time- and cost-intensive component testing

Eddy current measurements based on AI algorithms enable process-safe non-destructive crack and hardness testing.

Our Solution

Analysis of suitable components
Evaluate and adapt eddy current measurement technology
Development of component-specific algorithms for testing surface hardness and hardening depth
Support for integration into ongoing production processes

Your Benefits

100 percent testing possible
Fast release processes due to testing times < 1 second
No destruction of expensive components necessary