75% cost savings with 3D-printed positioning bars

What was needed: a cost-effective alternative to the CNC-machined aluminium positioning rails in cartoning machines that could be produced quickly.

Requirements: flexibility for changing product geometries, high wear resistance and fast delivery times with cost-effective production.

Shanghai New GOOD Packing Machine Co., Ltd. produces cartoning machines that are used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. The precision, flexibility and reliability of their systems are essential as products of different geometries must be precisely aligned before they are picked up by grippers and placed in cartons. Previously, CNC-machined aluminium positioning bars were used to align the products.

However, the previous aluminium solution reached its limits. Production was expensive, involved long delivery and production times and required complex post-processing. The production of special geometries in particular was time-consuming and uneconomical. For efficient production and high flexibility with frequently changing product formats, the company was looking for a more cost-effective and faster alternative.

The answer to this challenge was found in additive manufacturing. The positioning bars were replaced by 3D-printed components made of iglidur i150 tribofilament.
This material offers up to seven times higher wear resistance as well as 70% weight savings compared to conventional POM and is 85% lighter than aluminium. Thanks to the fast manufacturing process in 3D printing, new geometries can be implemented from design to ready-to-use bar within just three to four days - without tool costs and post-processing. At the same time, this solution achieved cost savings of 75% compared to the previous aluminium version.

Thanks to the positioning bars made of iglidur i150, Shanghai New GOOD Packing Machine was able to move away from time-consuming and cost-intensive aluminium production to a significantly more flexible, cheaper and more durable solution.