The specialty chemicals group ALTANA has completed the acquisition of the business of TLS Technik GmbH & Co. Spezialpulver KG, an international specialist in the production of metal powders for industrial 3D printing. The business will operate under the name ECKART TLS GmbH as of immediately.

Mutations, lockdown and problems with regard to the procurement and administration of vaccines are dominating the public debates and concerns of the industry. Against this background, the German Foundry Industry Association nevertheless draws an encouraging conclusion from the now eighth member survey regarding the effects of the pandemic.

RUSAL has announced that it has agreed to acquire the business and assets of the Aluminium Rheinfelden GmbH out of insolvency. The transaction is expected to deliver strong commercial synergies by matching Aluminium Rheinfelden’s niche product focus with RUSAL’s global scale low-carbon aluminum alloy production.

With friction stir welding technology, Grenzebach offers a powerful and emission-free process for the component production of electric vehicles. The automotive industry can count on comprehensive consulting for product and process design and benefits from a large machine portfolio that is continuously improved and enlarged by a powerful global player.

One year ago the motto for 2019 was: Sales up, profits down. For two years in a row, growth had slowed down. But compared to the current situation and the findings from the first half of 2020, times were rather rosy.

While German foundries were already struggling with a downturn, the corona crisis has further shaken the industry. The challenge now is to provide assistance and make concrete recommendations for action.

The ongoing corona pandemic is dominating the world and is not stopping at the foundry industry. We have surveyed the industry and identified current and upcoming challenges facing foundrymen, suppliers, manufacturers and service providers.

After years of continuous growth, the global economy has recently begun to shrink. Especially the automotive industry as the most important customer of the foundry industry is affected by this.

Towards the end of last year, Dirk Falke, chairman of the «Color Table Working Group» and owner of the Falke engineering office, presented the guideline for CAD-supported transmission of tolerances drawn up by the committee. The new framework is intended to facilitate cooperation between companies and help avoid mistakes.

Sciaky, Inc., a supplier of industrial metal 3D printing solutions, has announced that its Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing technology deposited over 12,000 5,443 kg of titanium in 2020. Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, Sciaky’s high deposition rate metal 3D printing solution surpassed previous titanium deposition calendar year marks.

All eyes on Artificial Intelligence: The finalists for the 2021 KUKA Innovation Award have been selected. Five teams convinced the international jury with their robotics concepts on the topic of AI. The winner receives a prize of EUR20,000.

Franken Guss has supplied 3D printed prototypes for a new tool innovation from Rothenberger. Thanks to the use of Franken Guss' 3D printing process Selective Laser Melting, Rothenberger was able to have its prototypes produced in several development cycles within a very short time.

Converting mold systems previously driven by hydraulic or pneumatic means to electrically-driven mold motions, specifically via servo-motors and actuators, offers many advantages. ETMM will present the basics of servo-driven mold functions, various control solutions, the key benefits of mold electrification and the application testing process in a free webinar on February 25.

The increasing number of alternative drive concepts poses new challenges for vehicle development and production engineers. The aim of the "FlexHyBat" research project that kicked off at the end of 2020 is to manufacture multi-variant vehicle floor assemblies using as few tools as possible.

In order to ensure the competitiveness of German-speaking tool, model and mold making companies, the cooperative MARKTSPIEGEL WERKZEUGBAU eG conducts an anonymous company comparison across the industry. The initiators started in 2019 with the aim of systematically making the companies better with industry knowledge. This article presents the key figures report from January 2021.

Jaguar Land Rover is preparing for future electric vehicles with advanced lightweight composite research that will help deliver increased range, greater performance and a more dynamic drive. The project aims to prevent 4.5 million t of CO2 emissions between 2023 and 2032.