The Rexroth Foundry has been around for centuries, using special tools to create a mold from sand before casting components. The tools must be designed and made individually for each new product, and this is the most expensive part of the casting process.
So, while casting might be the most cost-effective and the best option for creating a prototype, the elaborate traditional process for creating the mold has generally made it impractical to use this process for multiple prototypes within a project.
The modern way is to create a minimum viable product and release it early at least to testers, rather than to spend years in development before taking action. Rexroth’s foundry in Lohr is bridging the gap with a pair of 3D printers which use CAD data or optical models to create the sand mold or core.
With this new technique, companies can get a prototype or a small run much faster and at a much lower cost than in the traditional way. A small run allows the designers and manufacturers to test and tweak the design, and the more cost-effective approach means that additional iterations are also practical.
It’s a great example of how Rexroth uses new technologies along with the time-tested technologies in which they excel to keep manufacturers on the cutting edge.