This year’s MADE PhD and postdoc conference revolved around cases from the companies Aasted, NCC, and Rockwool.
50 young manufacturing researchers associated with the five universities in MADE worked together in teams to solve challenges presented by the companies. 48 hours later, the researchers had to present their solutions to the companies’ management teams.
“It’s amazing what the researchers have been able to do within 48 hours. It is valuable to us that they don’t just answer our questions. They are challenging our way of thinking,” Michala Mulvad-Thiim, Team Leader of Production Engineering at Aasted, says.
Aasted, a Danish manufacturer of equipment and machines for chocolate production, was one of the three case companies in this year’s PhD and postdoc conference.
Reducing delivery time
Delivery time is a key production parameter for Aasted in order to remain competitive. It is often the delivery time of a machine or component that determines whether Aasted or a competitor wins an order.
This has driven the Danish SME to look in the direction of 3D printing to reduce the time spent on developing, designing and producing the customer specific components and machine parts.
At the 2018 MADE Ph.D. and Postdoc Conference, the MADE researchers assessed the advantages and disadvantages of introducing 3D printing at Aasted by evaluating 3D printing opportunities of selected Aasted components.
“We have gotten a new perspective on 3D printing. We will no longer only think about whether it makes sense to 3D print several key components, but now we also take into account the many unexploited design opportunities, that are available to us if we use 3D printing instead of standard CNC milling machines,” Michala Mulvad-Thiim, Team Leader of Production Engineering at Aasted, says.
MADE’s PhD and postdoc conference is held on an annual basis.
