Oerlikon and Technik have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish repeatable processes for AM, additive manufacturing in the air-craft MRO industry. This partnership aims to take advantage of the potential cost savings and flexibility in manufacturing, warehousing, procurement and supply chain management. It will be an important step in the industrialization of AM in the MRO air-craft industry.
Oerlikon and Technik will build representative component geometrics that will be printed on identical printers in three locations, Lufthansa Technik in Hamburg (Germany), Oerlikon AM Charlotte (North Carolina, USA) and Oerlikon AM Barleben (Germany). The powder specifications and process parameters will be used for process repeatability understanding. This partnership will last for a year but can be extended for other model printers.
Dr. Roland Fischer, CEO, Oerlikon Group said, “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. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with Lufthansa Technik and working with them to develop reliable, repeatable and quality-assured additive manufacturing processes, standards and products for the MRO industry.”
Mr Bernhard Krueger-Sprengel, vice president, Engine Services, at Lufthansa Technik said, “Lufthansa Technik is active in areas such as the cabin of the future, 3D printing, and Industry 4.0. 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.”
