Oerlikon and Lufthansa Technik to jointly accelerate additive manufacturing processes and standards

Editor -

  • Oerlikon AM and Lufthansa Technik will jointly establish replicable
    additive manufacturing (AM) processes and standards for maintenance,
    repair and overhaul (MRO) applications

  • The objective is to guarantee robust and repeatable processes on
    multiple machines in multiple locations

Pfäffikon Schwyz, Switzerland & Hamburg, Germany - July 11, 2018 -
Oerlikon (SIX: OERL), a leading technology and engineering group, and
Lufthansa Technik, a leading provider of maintenace, repair and
overhaul (MRO) services for civil aircraft, engines and components,
today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish robust
and repeatable processes for additive manufacturing (AM) in the
aicraft MRO industry. The partnership is an important step toward the
industrialization of AM in the aircraft MRO industry and aims to take
advantage of potential flexibility and cost savings in manufacturing,
procurement, warehousing and supply chain management.

"We are confident that Oerlikon's extensive expertise in additive
manufacturing and the aerospace industry, combined with our proven
ability to integrate solutions throughout the manufacturing value
chain on a global scale will bring great benefits to Lufthansa
Technik," said Dr. Roland Fischer, CEO, Oerlikon Group. "We look
forward to strengthening our partnership with Lufthansa Technik and
join forces to develop reliable, repeatable and quality-assured
additive manufacturing processes, standards and products for the MRO
industry."

"Lufthansa Technik is active in areas such as the cabin of the
future, 3D printing, and Industry 4.0," said Bernhard
Krueger-Sprengel, vice president, Engine Services, at Lufthansa
Technik. "We see the partnership with Oerlikon's AM team as an
exciting opportunity to accelerate Lufthansa Technik's plan of having
local AM repair capabilities on a global scale."

Oerlikon AM and Lufthansa Technik will build up representative
component geometrics. The components will be printed on identical
printers in three global locations: Oerlikon AM Charlotte (North
Carolina, USA), Oerlikon AM Barleben (Germany) and Lufthansa Technik
in Hamburg (Germany). The same process parameters and powder
specifications will be used to understand process repeatability. The
partnership is for a one-year period and may be extended to other
models of printers as more data on manufacturing processes is
collected.

The collaboration between Oerlikon AM and Lufthansa Technik will help
drive the industrialization of additive manufacturing as the study
results will be shared with relevant industry bodies to support
defining standards for the qualification and approval of aircraft
components.