Additive manufacturing in the beverage industry

Before looking at additive manufacturing in the beverage industry, we would like to answer a general question: What exactly is additive manufacturing?

In contrast to manufacturing processes in which workpieces are machined out of a raw material, i.e. by removing material, in additive manufacturing the component is built up layer by layer in several steps. Depending on the additive manufacturing process selected, materials (e.g. in powder form) are deposited in a specified position and then hardened. This layer is then added to by another layer, and so on, until the component is completed. 

An advantage additive manufacturing has got compared to conventional processes is that no casting moulds or additional tools are necessary, which means that even smaller quantities or series of highly individualised components can be produced in an economically efficient way.Additive manufacturing entails a number of further benefits: 

Geometric freedom: Designs that used to be considered complex, hard or impossible to produce are now easy to implement (complexity for free).

Optimised performance: Components with new designs can offer improved performance and potentially with less material and fewer parts (part merging).

Fast implementation: Product innovations are created, tested and perfected more quickly.

Less costly product development: Prototypes are less costly and quicker to manufacture. 

Tailored production: Fast production of small quantities at comparatively low costs per unit.

Short delivery times: Just-in-time manufacturing of components can reduce inventory levels and costs. 

Not only plastics are suitable for additive manufacturing − metal is too. Among various other processes, laser powder bed fusion (PBF) has become particularly popular.

In the PBF process a laser beam melts metal-based powder and then deposits it layer by layer. The metal powders used can be made of different materials; alloys can be selected to match the required component and application. 

With these benefits, additive manufacturing has become established in many industries and is now an integral part of today's smart factory. One of the main reasons is that for many companies additive manufacturing is easy to outsource: The production data (3D CAD data) are sufficient to manufacture the workpieces to the exact dimensions specified by the customers.

When thinking of the terms "additive manufacturing" or "3D printing" in connection with the food industry, printing solutions for shaping dough or chocolate may initially come to mind. However, the opportunities of additive manufacturing in the food industry and, even more so, in the beverage industry go far beyond this application.

Because speed is important in the beverage industry: Filling rates of 40,000 to 80,000 bottles or cans per hour are far from rare. Production downtime or having to wait for spare parts can quickly become very expensive. In the event of production downtime, a filling plant often has to resort to using other filling lines, which may first have to be adjusted to the specific beverage containers. According to 3D-Druck.com (the largest independent online magazine for additive manufacturing), an hour of production downtime can cost between 4,000 and 30,000 euros, depending on the size and filling output of the entire filling line. 

For the beverage industry this is a cost that can be avoided by using additive manufacturing. The ordering, transport and installation of conventional spare parts often takes a long time. Additively manufactured components can be printed quickly when required. At the same time, they can be optimised in design. 

Apart from being rapidly available, additively manufactured metal components have got some other distinct advantages over cast components that are particularly interesting for the beverage industry.

First of all, components such as the impeller of a pump do not need to be made of solid material (unlike castings). Quite the opposite: Bionic light-weight structures such as honeycomb or lattice structures have proven especially suitable. Not only do they impress with their high stability, they also weigh significantly less than solid components – saving on energy input from the drive.

Additive manufacturing further enables the use of steels of a higher hardness, which reduces wear during operation.

And last but not least, many conventional castings made of stainless steel contain gas pockets or shrinkage cavities. Shrinkage cavities form when material volume shrinks due to the melt cooling down and solidifying. High loads may result in defects or a total loss of cast components with such a cavity. In the food and beverage industry shrinkage cavities are also feared as potential contamination traps that have to be prevented no matter what. This is another major strength of additive manufacturing: By building a component layer by layer there is no risk of any cavities. The density o the component is comparable to that of forged material.

In conclusion: Additive manufacturing shortens downtimes for beverage filling plants to an extent that, until recently, seemed unimaginable.

KSB has been known as a reliable partner in the beverage industry for many years. Our high-performance hygienic pumps and valves are used in the most diverse of fields. They stand for the highest level in quality and process reliability. 

This also applies to additive manufacturing: As the first manufacturer worldwide KSB became TÜV-certified in 2019 for the additive manufacturing of components to the European Pressure Equipment Directive. Benefit from our many years of expertise in the field of additive manufacturing: At our Pegnitz site we are offering you services relating to the entire process of additive manufacturing from a single source, including certified material tests in our own materials laboratory.

No matter whether you need a (fast) replacement for conventional components, an individual special design or a newly developed and designed component for a new process: KSB has got the additive manufacturing solutions you need. We look forward to hearing from you. Please contact us.