Outperforming all the others

Laser development at TRUMPF in 1985, when the company
presented its first proprietary CO2 laser

From the time when Theodore H. Maiman fired up the first laser in May 1960, engineers at TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG have begun laying the foundations for an impressive success story.   Ringier Metalworking was fortunate to be invited to INTECH 2011 held at TRUMPF’s headquarters in Ditzingen, Germany.

For two days, press representatives all over the world witnessed how TRUMPF fully committed itself to the business. After all, building a family owned-company is a humbling experience, which is something that applies in equal measure to everyone who works for it: managing partners, management executives and employees alike.

40 years of laser
From their very first use in welding mainsprings for watches, through high-quality cutting of materials ranging from extremely thin foils to sheets of metal centimetres thick to the employment of ultra-modern direct diode lasers, the industrial laser owes its success in large part to TRUMPF –and it has done so for the last 40 years.

Peter Leibinger, head of TRUMPF’s Laser Technology Division, describes it, “Our goal as a laser manufacturer is to be the first to make cutting-edge technology available for use in manufacturing. We transform the latest research developments into mature products that are suitable for industry.” Mathias Kammüller, head of TRUMPF’s Machine Tool Division and, like Leibinger, a member of the TRUMPF Group’s Management Board, adds: “Laser systems are universal tools that can be used again and again in a huge variety of processes. We offer the right laser in the appropriate machine for each and every application.”

TRUMPF has provided numerous such machines to the growing market for laser processing. The first, in 1979, was a combined punch/laser machine equipped with 500 and 700 watt CO₂ lasers that at that time the company still sourced externally. Eight years earlier, watch manufacturer Carl Haas, based in the little town of Schramberg in the Black Forest, had already recognised the suitability of lasers for precision watchmaking applications and built the first solid-state laser. Since Haas is now TRUMPF, this marks the beginning of our company’s laser era.

In the decades that followed, both CO₂ and solid-state lasers experienced rapid developments. The year 1985 was a milestone for both technologies, since it was then that TRUMPF became a laser manufacturer in its own right with the development and production of the TLF 1000 CO₂ laser, and it was also the year that Haas introduced the first laser light cable for industrial use. Just two years later, TRUMPF brought out the TRUMATIC L 3000, the first flatbed laser machine with flying optics, where the machine table stays still while the cutting head “flies” across the sheet metal.

The year 1995 can be regarded as another hallmark. This was when TRUMPF not only expanded its products’ capabilities to include processes such as laser welding and tube cutting, but also for the first time employed a solid-state laser to process thin steel sheets in the TRUMATIC LY 2500 flatbed cutting machine – the forerunner of today’s hugely successful “fibre” machines, which began to conquer the market in 2008 with the integration of the latest TruDisk disk lasers.

Today, there are around 20,000 TRUMPF CO₂ lasers and 15,000 of solid-state lasers in use around the world. While the CO₂ lasers continue to dominate the market for flatbed laser machines, there is a growing demand for the range of machines with fibre-guided solid-state lasers, as these lasers complement each other perfectly. Taking an automotive analogy, the CO₂ cutting machine is a versatile off-road vehicle, which, thanks to up to 8 kilowatts of power is capable of high-quality steel cutting for sheet thicknesses from 0.5 to more than 30 millimetres – making it ideal for negotiating the rally challenge of quick design changes and short product runs that defines the workload of many suppliers. Solid-state laser machines, on the other hand, are like racing cars in that they can get up to incredible speeds on certain “surfaces”: in this case thin sheet metals – even copper or brass. They can handle thicker materials, too; indeed, their results on mild steel are comparable to those of a CO₂ laser. But when used to process stainless steel, cut quality deteriorates relatively quickly – meaning these lasers prefer a racetrack of sheet metal that is no more than 5 millimetres thick.

“Lasers as a tool are still in their youth – even now, 50 years after the first laser was fired up and 40 years since they began to cut their teeth in an industrial setting at TRUMPF,” said Peter Leibinger. “People are still constantly coming up with new applications for both CO₂ and solid-state lasers. Some, such as the cutting of glass display covers for mobile phones, benefit from the speed of laser processing, while others, such as the cutting of lightweight materials, would simply not be possible without lasers.”

Latest products on display
During the INTECH tour, TRUMPF introduced its latest TruLaser 5040 fibre to the members of the press. With a processing area of 4m x 2m, this new machine offers users even more flexibility in terms of sheet format. Both the TruLaser 5030 fibre and 5040 fibre models can in the future be shipped with a 5-kW laser– a real first for the market. This not only increases the maximum thickness of sheet that they can handle, it also speeds up their already impressive feed rates.

“Employing the TruDisk 5001 solid-state laser is an important innovation in these machines. Thanks to the higher laser output, they can now process material up to five times faster while using much less power than similarly performing CO₂ laser machines,” said Mathias Kammüller, head of TRUMPF’s Machine Tool Division.

Another highlight during the tour is TruLaser Cell 8030, developed for laser cutting hot-formed 3-D components in high-output production environments. It has dynamic rotary table with reduced rotary times. Quality is guaranteed by FocusLine automatic focus adjustment: this ensures suitable laser focusing, even on components with variable thicknesses – such as those often found in the automotive industry.

Wrapping up
As a family-owned company, TRUMPF’s thinking and actions are focused on the long-term. It stands for innovation and high technology. With its 8,500 employees worldwide, TRUMPF is committed to its goal: outstanding performance for its customers. Its international presence makes TRUMPF a constant in all global markets. With 58 subsidiaries and branch offices, the Group is present in almost every European country, in North and South America, as well as Asia.

"Following the major declines during the recession years, we now have strong growth in all the world's regions - most particularly in China, but also in Germany and the American markets" said Company's President and Chairwoman of the Managing Board, Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller. She added that the high-tech company also owes this success to its role as a technological leader: "We have increased our outlay on research and development, already high as it is, by 22%. Only in this way can we offer our customers products that give them the competitive edge."

TRUMPF's strong commitment in China is also contributing decisively to the company being able to make use of growth opportunities there. TRUMPF is currently in the process of doubling its production capacity in China. The extension to the factory in Taicang near Shanghai is due to be opened in the spring of 2012.

“No-one can say today how the global economy will develop in the coming weeks and months,“ stated the head of TRUMPF. “However we are convinced that high-growth markets will continue to exist in the future, and our presence there also benefits our locations in Germany.”