3D laser printing
Additive Manufacturing: Kurtz Ersa and LMI join forces
The Laser Melting Innovations GmbH & Co. KG (LMI) was founded in 2017 – it is the result of a project of the Aachen Center for 3D Printing, which was set up by the Aachen University of Applied Sciences together with the Fraunhofer ILT. The LMI team has more than 20 years of experience in the field of additive manufacturing and has set out to make it easier for small and medium-sized companies to access metallic 3D laser printing. Development of the Alpha 140 printer began three years ago – the market launch has now been successfully completed and the first models are in production. “Our goal is to democratize 3D metal printing in order to provide SMEs in particular with a low-cost entry into the new world of digital manufacturing,” explains Professor Dr.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. Johannes Henrich Schleifenbaum, one of the LMI founders.
How did this happen? For some time now, the machine building and technology group Kurtz Ersa had been looking to complement existing business areas. “3D metal printing is an excellent complement to our relationships in the manufacturing scene,” explains CEO Rainer Kurtz. The Alpha 140 is manufactured at Kurtz Maschinenfabrik in Kreuzwertheim and is available immediately through the worldwide Kurtz Ersa sales network – as is a 24-hour service.
Perfect entry into new business field
“This cooperation enables us to achieve a fantastically short time-to-market,” says Kurtz Managing Director Uwe Rothaug, who was instrumental in preparing the cooperation. A classic win-win situation: For Kurtz Ersa, LMI´s process know-how in the field of additive manufacturing was the key to entering the new business segment. For LMI, as a young technology company, Kurtz Ersa´s sales and service channels and the experience of the established machine manufacturer offer the ideal complement to the roll-out of metallic 3D laser printing.