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Maximator JET GmbH

Maximator JET GmbH

Maximator JET GmbH

22.05.2019 05:05

STM REVOLUTIONIZES THE MARKET FOR SPORTS FLOOR COVERINGS WITH THE GERMAN TEU2TEC

Thanks to water jet technology “powered by STM”, Melos GmbH, world market leader for coloured plastic granulates, is now causing a sensation with individualised sports floor coverings.

“We use tomorrow's technologies to turn today's ideas into reality”: With this claim, Teu2Tec GmbH from Bielefeld is looking for technological best practice solutions as a “fast breeder” for innovative business ideas from medium-sized companies. In this function, it is looking for a new production solution for sports floor coverings with individual patterns for its customer Melos, an international heavyweight in the field of composites. It discovered water as a tool and the water jet specialist STM for themselves and removed all obstacles surprisingly quickly. Nine months after the first meeting with the application engineers at STM, Teu2Tec for Melos produces razor-sharp motif sports floors – in record time and almost fully automatically. At the same time, an app was developed with which customers can design their desired motifs themselves and send them to Teu2Tec as a finished cutting file. The productive conversation from pioneer to pioneer had already inspired Managing Director Dirk Krupke during the beta phase at the STM test centre. “Waterjet production and sparring with STM waterjet experts is full of imagination”, Krupke sums up. “We look forward to breaking new ground in this line-up.” This is exactly why he has invested in an STM 6020 PremiumCut 3D IFC cutting system, the high-end all-rounder from STM, with an extra-large cutting table and separate abrasive cutting area. In doing so, he also wants to make the supposedly impossible possible in the future.

Controlled offensive: Melos GmbH wants to destabilize progress without proven structures. As a specialist for customer-specific composite solutions, Melos GmbH in Lower Saxony has had a steep career since it was founded in 1930. Today the company employs 200 people and is successful in the business fields of granulates, cable composites and custom fit composites. Melos GmbH with its 24 standard colours and more than twice as many special colours is the world leader especially in the field of coloured granulates. International prestige objects like the world's largest horse race track in Dubai or the Berlin Olympic Stadium are equipped with Melos floors. The high demand on the building materials market motivates the company to also develop the end customer market with custom fit solutions. In return, it wants to play one of its greatest trump cards, the “colour granules” card: Municipalities and sports clubs are to be given the opportunity to integrate colourful logos and complex images into their floor coverings with great attention to detail. The problem: The company has neither the capacity nor the leeway to implement this idea. However, this fact does not stop the dynamic medium-sized company at all. In order to be able to grow horizontally and vertically in the future, the company decided to concentrate further on the production of bulk goods within the company and to outsource the implementation of the new business idea to the Bielefeld innovation facilitator Teu2Tec. In plain language that means: Development and production processes are handled by Teu2Tec as a service provider, Melos focuses on corporate strategy issues. The start-up Teu2Tec specialises in the development of future-oriented technical solutions for medium-sized companies. In this case, the task is: Finding the most efficient and flexible solution for the creative processing of coloured granulates – in series or individual production.

The goal: Producing individualised sports floor coverings with logos, pictures or markings economically and with the best possible unmatched quality. A challenge that the 20-strong team tackles with enthusiasm.

3D printing for waterjet cutting

First, Teu2Tec used a 3D printer to pre-print the contours of the desired motifs in black plastic. The individual fields were then filled with granulate in the respective colour. The result was a comparatively coarse picture with annoying black edges around each individual colour area. All in all a rather tedious and personnel-intensive affair with unsatisfactory results. The team was therefore looking for a professional method to cut out filigree shapes from granulate slabs with great attention to detail. In doing so, it recalled its first indirect experiences with waterjet technology and researches providers on the Internet in a completely unbiased manner. After evaluating the first five pages, Dirk Krupke spontaneously called STM in Schweinfurt and received an equally spontaneous solution proposal from Managing Director Sven Anders. Solid cost-benefit data and answers to detailed technical questions followed in quick succession. The final light-bulb moment came during the visits to the test centres in Schweinfurt and Eben, where the Teu2Tec team carried out various test cuts. The result amazed even experienced engineer Dirk Krupke: Whether logo, large images or markings – thanks to high precision and cut edge quality, the individual colour elements can be seamlessly integrated into a homogeneous unit without further processing. “I wouldn't have thought that this very tough rubber could be cut precisely with something as simple as water and that contours in the millimetre range could also be reproduced accurately.” Dirk Krupke becomes a water jet disciple and reaffirmed his belief in the technology with the purchase of an STM water jet system that goes far beyond the current requirements in terms of performance.

A water cutting system to grow with the needs

Teu2Tec opted for an STM 6020 PremiumCut 3D IFC, the high-performance system with full equipment that masters all 2D and 3D cutting tasks with and without abrasive quickly and precisely across all materials. No compromises were made during configuration: A cutting table of 6 x 2 metres and a 3D cutting head with a 68° cutting angle as well as an additional abrasive unit ensure maximum scope for future projects. Also because of this long-term perspective, Teu2Tec relies on the STM system, which has matured over 25 years. The systems work resource efficiently and excel with extremely low power, water and air consumptions as well as maximum upgrade and adjustment capacities. All structural components, bolts and screws are made of wear-resistant stainless steel or aluminium. Characteristic features are a flat underside as well as the smooth side walls with concealed linear guides without bellows and a high pressure tube fed through the axes. The fully digital drive consists of brushless AC servomotors with multi-axes CNC control. The corresponding software runs on MS Windows and requires only a standard computer. Working with the system proved to be very convenient. After a few days of training, the system belonged to the Teu2Tec team and performed cutting tasks reliably and almost fully automatically.

The sky is not the limit

Teu2Tec would not be an innovation service provider if this new cutting technology had not inspired new ideas. In addition to the convincing cutting performance, Dirk Krupke particularly likes the fact that drawings can easily be imported into the cutting software. Reason enough for the team to develop an app on the basis of the “Stylemaker” software, which interested customers can use to individually design their desired designs and order them online. The application can be found on the first level of the Melos homepage at www.readytobuild.de. It ensures constantly increasing traffic and new business impulses.

There's no such thing as impossible

With this success story, all three companies involved are lend new substance to the saying “Who dares wins”. Those who have a tough time with the feasibility of their vision can profit from innovation “coaches” as provided by Teut2Tec or STM without great effort. Start-ups should have this on their radar: At STM, initial consultation, demand and cost-benefit analyses are offered free of charge and without obligation. Test cuts are also possible at any time for almost all materials and do not entail great costs. Interested parties can either contact the STM locations in Schweinfurt or Eben, Austria, directly or visit STM and its live demonstrations at trade fairs like the Foam Expo in Stuttgart (September 10 – 12, 2019), Marmomac in Verona/IT (September 25 – 28) or Blechexpo in Stuttgart (November 5  – 8, 2019) personally. A manageable effort in view of the perspectives it can open.

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