EUR 9.01 trillion – this is the shockingly high amount of added value in manufacturing, which drained off from Europe to other world regions (particularly to regions with low production factor costs like Asia) in the last years. The reason for this can be mainly seen in cost differences of production factors. To retrieve added value to Europe, particularly manufacturing and machining processes have to be improved to greater efficiency. Driven by the vision of Smart Factories of the Future and Industry 4.0, the European Commission therefore starts a lot of initiatives, like the Digital Single Market in 2016. The EC expects that digitisation of products and services can add more than EUR 110 billion of annual revenue in Europe in the next five years.

A technology predestined for making machining more efficient and for implementing Industry 4.0 in manufacturing is the laser technology offering contactless and flexible processing. The next level of laser machining based on ultrashort laser pulses resulting in high precision never existed before. Up to now, existing laser machining systems are fixed to only one incorporated laser and therefore limited in parameters and application. This results in the need of having many different laser systems for different applications and in long retooling and adjustment times.

For the broad introduction of advanced laser machining in Europe’s manufacturing industry, neoLASE and GFH GmbH will during this project integrate the prototype of unique laser amplifier technology in a modular, self-adjusting and self-intelligent laser machining system to reach the next level of manufacturing. This system incorporates several seed lasers and optics, all combinable by the amplifier technology, and therefore has the functionalities of many laser systems in only one machine. This meets the actual needs for high precision and economic production.

• Combination machining: Drilling, turning & cutting

• Parallel processing on two stations

• Direct drive in all axes

• Water-cooled drives

• Position-controlled turning spindle with 3500 rpm

• Work area variable depending on equipment

• Rotationally symmetrical components up to a diameter of 12 mm

• Small set-up area: 2.3 m²

• Integrated automation

• Optional six-axis robot for autonomous unloading function

• Extension of the machine with a bar loader

With the development of the so-called GFH-Cup, a sample part was created that depicts all laser processes on one sample part. The recess of the cup was hollowed out using laser ablation, and the decorative holes were drilled into the cup using a laser drilling process. The base of the cup is shaped using the laser turning process and decorations are cut using the laser cutting process. The cup was made in a wide variety of materials, such as stainless steel and ceramics. The precision of the cup can be demonstrated with a goblet diameter of one millimeter. By comparing the size of the cup versus the 1-cent-piece, it can also be seen how filigree and precise work can be done using an ultrashort pulse laser.