【3D Printing News】3 Secrets of Optical Manufacturing: "Tailor-Made" for Ultra-Precision!
ZEISS, a world-leading optical manufacturer, spans across various fields, from microchips and semiconductors to ophthalmology, dentistry, and professional industrial microscopes. They pursue ultra-high precision, minimal error, and industrial-grade quality, with strict control over the manufacturing process. Read on to discover their keys to success:
The German optoelectronics manufacturer ZEISS is a global pioneer in lens manufacturing. With 170 years of research and innovation experience, they have produced various industrial optical microscopes over the years, placing great emphasis on instrument precision, allowing an error margin of only within one-hundredth of a millimeter.
．Reproducible Production, Stable and Uniform
Every machine produced by ZEISS undergoes optical alignment and measurement, requiring alignment using brackets and adjustment screws. Since each equipment has a different structure, the alignment methods required also vary. To ensure that the corresponding parts of each equipment are precisely aligned, ZEISS once attempted to use a large number of employees for manual operations. However, they found that this manufacturing method was not sustainable, neither in terms of finished product effect nor time and labor costs.
"The manual adjustment of instruments was very unstable. We tried many methods and finally found the most effective solution through 3D printing technology," said Johannes Grimm, Operations Manager, excitedly.
"The manual adjustment of instruments was very unstable. We tried many methods and finally found the most effective solution through 3D printing technology," said Johannes Grimm, Operations Manager, excitedly.
(The ZEISS team uses an Ultimaker 3D printer to mass-produce optical adapter plates for microscopes.)
The ZEISS team measures the angles on each machine and decides to use a 3D printer to produce alignment tools and optical adapter plate fixing tools. This not only allows for precise alignment of parts in each equipment but also ensures that light propagates and senses accurately along the correct direction.
．"Tailor-Made" Customization
The optical adapter plate is a standardized part at ZEISS. They use 3D printing technology to produce various fixtures, jigs, and other fixing devices, as customized prototypes for each special angle. This meets all customer requirements; it's less about customizing for customers and more about "tailoring" for each piece of equipment!
Operations Manager Johannes states that 3D printing technology can make the production process more stable, and not only that! When using a 3D printer to create parts, the choice of 3D printing filaments is very diverse, ranging from various plastics, nylon, and composite materials like carbon fiber, to metals!
．Unimaginable Cost Savings
After the ZEISS team installed Ultimaker 3D printers in their factory, employees can easily operate the Ultimaker Cura software to develop their own fixtures and fixing devices. Besides offering original Ultimaker 3D printing filaments, Ultimaker is also compatible with third-party materials. By integrating 3D printing technology into the manufacturing process, the production cost of 3D printed parts has been reduced from over 10,000 NTD to about 600 NTD! The lead time has also successfully been shortened from several months to a few days, giving engineers more extra time for repeated screening and ensuring the quality of the final product.
We are delighted to see more and more companies using Ultimaker 3D printers to improve their production processes. We have previously shared the manufacturing journey of Advantech in Taiwan ( Click here to see: Three Key Factors for Smart Production Lines, How a Computer Giant Does It!); do you have similar needs? Contact us now to learn more about Ultimaker 3D printers.
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