Close-up production line
Let there be light. It’s a simple phrase that belies the production intricacies involved in manufacturing modern lighting solutions. A true ‘life essential’, lightbulbs are required in vast volumes but there is more to manufacturing the humble lightbulb than meets the eye.
A recent collaboration between Materialise and Philips Lighting resulted in the ‘reinvention’ of a lamp holder previously prone to part failure, and the automation of a previously labour intensive line using lightweight design. These two innovations alone are realising cost savings of around €89,000 a year through the operational benefits they deliver.
Founded in 1891 to manufacture incandescent lamps and other electrical products, Philips has been innovating for over 125 years. The Philips Lighting site in Turnhout (Belgium) plays a key role in maintaining that tradition. Interested in the potential that 3D printing – particularly metal printing – could help unlock in their production process, Philips Factory Engineering Designer, Danny Van der Jonckheyd and his team invited Materialise to the site to gain an in-depth understanding of Philips’ specific production line requirements.
Sven Hermans, Business Development Manager at Materialise explained: “You have to see a line in action to truly appreciate the demands, strains and stresses on specific assembly elements, but also to understand the pressures on personnel. While at the site, we looked at parts and spoke with production line operatives, maintenance teams, factory engineers - as many people as we could in order to identify issues and areas ripe for enhancement that would be ideally suited to 3D printed solutions.”
Lamp holder bracket
Printing to prevent part failure
The first part earmarked for improvement was a bracket/holder used to hold lamps in place and keep lead-in wires away from heat as torches are applied to melt and seal off glass exhaust tubes. Repeated exposure to high temperatures on a continuous line, paired with structure featuring weld lines from a four-piece bracket assembly, meant sheering and breakage was a common occurrence, with one or two failing every week.
The brackets were being repaired on site using a buffer supply of spares Philips had to store on location. However, each multi-piece unit was difficult to remove and disassemble and could take up to two hours to fix. Also, only a limited number of repairs could take place before a completely new unit was needed, requiring a lead-time of approximately 8 weeks.
Working in partnership with the team, Materialise co-engineered and metal printed a new single structure bracket, reducing part assembly and removing weld line pressure points completely. In the first three months of use, the re-imagined bracket has not broken once.
Danny explains: “We thought having to fix parts less often and more easily would be the biggest advantage but so far we haven’t had to replace any. Even if we were to consider this purely in terms of reduced maintenance technician time, we are already saving around €9,000 a year, plus the fact the technician can now concentrate on the real technical problems.”
Other advantages included reduced outlay and inventory for replacement parts, in addition to the creation of new conical wire holders as part of the bracket, which allow in-situ maintenance and reduce risk of damage.
Danny added: “It’s sparked a thought in everyone that we can and should do things differently – since this initial project I’ve been approached by people from different aspects of production with ideas for other ways 3D printing can work for us. It’s truly engaged our workforce.
Philips metal suction gripper
Gripper revelation
Testament to this new mindset, the production team at Philips spotted another opportunity. Could 3D Printing help with the automation of an existing, highly labour-intensive process?
The line in question previously required a machine operator - in continuous attendance - to physically place parts in a 12-bore gripper, apply materials and remove finished units. Automation of this process required enhancements to the vacuum suction capability of the gripper and a lighter construction sturdy enough to withstand the strains and stresses of a ‘pick and place’ robotic action.
By consolidating construction, creating curved internal channels and printing the gripper from Aluminium (AlSi10Mg), strength and suction has improved while reducing overall unit-weight – thus enabling faster, reliable movement.
“The gripper’s new capabilities have removed the need for time consuming manual part placement which, over the course of a year, will save us around €80,000 and significant operator hours. “The whole process has really opened our eyes, imaginations and hearts to 3D printing to such an extent that I think it has become a natural component of our manufacturing toolkit.”
