【3D Printing News】3 Secrets of Optical Manufacturing: "Tailor-made" for Ultra-precision!
ZEISS, a leading global optical manufacturer, spans various fields from microchips, semiconductors, ophthalmology, dentistry, to professional industrial microscope lenses. They pursue ultra-high precision, minimal error, and industrial-grade quality, with strict quality control throughout the production process. Discover their secrets to success now:
The German optoelectronics manufacturer "ZEISS" is a pioneer in global lens manufacturing, with 170 years of research and innovation experience. Over the years, they have produced various industrial optical microscopes, emphasizing instrument precision, with an allowable error margin of less than one-hundredth of a millimeter.
．Replicate Production, Stable and Uniform
Every machine produced by ZEISS undergoes optical alignment and measurement, requiring the use of brackets and adjustment screws for alignment. Each piece of equipment has a different structure and requires different alignment methods. To ensure that the corresponding parts for each piece of equipment are accurately aligned, ZEISS once tried to mobilize a large number of employees for manual operations, but they found that this production method was not a long-term solution, both in terms of finished product quality and time/labor costs.
"Manually adjusting 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.
"Manually adjusting 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 Ultimaker 3D printers to produce small batches of optical adapter plates for microscopes.)
The ZEISS team measures the angles on each machine and decided to use 3D printers to create alignment tools and optical adapter plate fixing tools. This not only allows for precise alignment of the parts of each piece of equipment but also ensures that light propagates and is sensed accurately in the correct direction.
．Customized "Machine-Specific" Designs
Optical adapter plates are standard parts for ZEISS. They use 3D printing technology to produce various fixtures and jigs, creating customized prototypes for every specific angle. This meets all customer requirements; rather than customizing for customers, it's more like "tailor-making" for each piece of equipment!
Operations Manager Johannes stated that 3D printing technology can make the production process more stable, and that's not all! When using 3D printers to produce parts, the choice of 3D printing filaments is very diverse, ranging from various plastics, nylon, carbon fiber and other composite materials, to metals!
．Unimaginable Cost Savings
After the ZEISS team installed Ultimaker 3D printers in their factory, employees can easily operate Ultimaker Cura software to develop their own jigs and fixtures. In addition to providing original 3D printing filaments, Ultimaker is also compatible with third-party materials. Integrating 3D printing technology into the production process has reduced manufacturing costs from over NT$10,000 in the past to about NT$600 for 3D printed parts today! It has also successfully shortened lead times from several months to a few days, giving engineers more extra time for repeated screening to ensure 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 how Advantech in Taiwan uses 3D printing in their manufacturing process (Click here to read: Three key factors for smart production lines, as implemented by a major computer manufacturer!). Do you have similar needs? Contact us now to learn more about Ultimaker 3D printers.
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