Customer Profile |Customer background: Precision manufacturing challenges for industrial giants
Sulzer, founded in Switzerland in 1834, is a global leader in pump, turbine machinery and industrial fluid technology. Its Dalian factory focuses on precision casting of high-end pump bodies and hydraulic components, and its products are widely used in the fields of energy, chemical and water treatment. Faced with intensified global competition, Sulzer urgently needs to break through the efficiency bottlenecks and design limitations of traditional casting.
In 2023, Sulzer's Dalian factory took the lead in introducing the CreatBot D1000 ultra-large size industrial 3D printer for PLA investment casting. After a year of rigorous production verification and excellent stability of the equipment, the Finnish subsidiary (Sulzer Pumps Finland Oy) has promoted the purchase of two additional D1000HS units in 2024 for rapid iterative development in European R & D centers.
Challenge |Industry pain points: traditional casting is "slow, expensive and stiff"
In the manufacturing of precision pump bodies, Sulzer faces three core challenges:
Efficiency lag: Metal molds for complex pump casings take 4-6 weeks to produce, delaying customer delivery;
High costs: The cost of small batches of molds accounts for more than 40% of the total cost of parts;
Design confinement: Split molds cannot achieve innovative structures such as runner optimization, hollow weight reduction, and shaped cooling channels.
"For an impeller mold with a diameter of 400mm, the traditional method requires splicing multiple steel molds, and the cumulative error results in a casting scrap rate of as high as 30%." --Production Director of Sulzer's Dalian Plant
Solution |Solution: D1000 HS industrial-level breakthrough
1. Ultra-large forming space: A scarce resource in the industry
With a globally leading size of 1000×1000×1000mm³, it can print ultra-large investment molds such as impellers and volutes in one piece with a dimensional accuracy of ±0.2mm, ensuring that the assembly surfaces of castings do not require secondary processing;
High-precision linear guide rails + closed-loop synchronous drive enable continuous printing for 500 hours without failure
2. Extreme reliability: The "steel warrior" of the casting workshop
Certified with a 1,000-hour MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures);
Actual combat records at Sulzer's Dalian factory:
✓ Continuous production for 27 days (648 hours) without downtime (except for consumable replacement);
A cumulative printing time of over 5,000 hours with zero replacements of key components.
3. Full-link Digital Casting
* Process of CreatBot 3D printing pump body accessories
*Investment casting with silica sand/ceramics *High-temperature alloy casting *Post-polishing treatment. Casting qualification rate: 98.6%
Implementation | Digital Transition from Dalian to Finland
Phase 1: Stability Test at Dalian Factory (2023-2024)
The first D1000 undertook the investment casting mold printing task for nuclear-grade pump bodies:
✓ The maximum single-piece size reached 900×850×600mm, setting an industry record;
✓ Compared with traditional steel molds: the production cycle was reduced from 42 days to 10 days, and the cost was reduced by 76%.
Phase 2: Disruptive Applications at European R&D Centers
The Finnish team achieved the following using the D1000 HS:
✓ Closed-loop of impeller fluid simulation - printing - testing, with a 5-fold increase in iteration speed; ✓ The world's first integrated impeller with hollow cooling channels, resulting in a 32% increase in pump efficiency.
Impact | Quantified Results: Redefining Industry Benchmarks
| Indicator | Traditional Process | CreatBot Solution | Improvement Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mold production cycle | 35-48 days | 5-8 days | 80%↓ |
| Single mold cost | $12,000 | $1,800 | 87%↓ |
| Maximum formable size | ≤500mm (Split) | 1000mm (Integral) | 100%↑ |
| Casting surface accuracy | Ra12.5 | Ra6.3 | 50%↑ |
Customer Voice | Customer Testimonials: Trust Behind the Data
"What impressed us most about the D1000HS is its stability — it completed nine marathon printing sessions of over 200 hours each continuously, with dimensional deviations always controlled within ±0.5mm, and significantly accelerated the production efficiency of customized parts."
— Manager of the Advanced Manufacturing Department, Sulzer Dalian Factory
"The European team once questioned the reliability of 'Made in China', but the 5,000-hour usage record from the Dalian factory completely changed our minds. Now these two devices are our strategic assets."
—— Technical Director, Sulzer R&D Center in Finland
