How Harvestance optimizes packaging lines with the help of 3D printing
The company in focus
Harvestance, a development and engineering service provider, specializes in additive manufacturing. The company offers 3D printing design solutions (DfAM) and services for various industries such as automotive, semiconductor, footwear and food technology. Harvestance has received numerous requests for the development and production of customized, lightweight and strong grippers for collaborative robots used for automation in production lines.
The challenge
Conventional aluminum grippers, which are often heavy, limit the weight of the workpieces that can be lifted and consume more energy. Harvestance's customers, including users of collaborative robots and robot system integrators, are confronted with numerous weak points:
Problem areas for robot users and system integrators
- Collaborative robots are usually limited to small payloads of 20 kg. Conventional aluminum grippers produced by CNC machining usually weigh 1-2 kg or more, which accounts for a considerable part of the robot's capacity and limits the weight of the workpiece to be machined.
- The conditions at different production sites vary and require customized grippers. However, the complexity of the geometries and conditions makes customization difficult due to the cost and manufacturing time of conventional methods.
- Pneumatic grippers with multiple suction cups require numerous vacuum hoses, which can impair the movement of the robot.
- The development of customized grippers for the respective operating conditions at competitive prices was a challenge.
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"With Markforged's continuous fiber reinforcement 3D printing technology, we have been able to grow our business by developing lightweight, strong robotic grippers at competitive lead times and prices."
- Seungjae Leem, CEO of Harvestance
The solution
"We were convinced that 3D printing could solve these problems completely. We chose Markforged's 3D printing technology with composite material to reduce the weight of the grippers while improving strength and stiffness to optimize their performance," explains Harvestance CEO Seungjae Leem.
Harvestance initially focused on a lightweight design and integrated the vacuum channels from the compressed air source to the suction cups directly into the gripper housing, enabling one-touch assembly without external hoses. The company used various design methods to improve the quality and efficiency of the 3D printed parts. For example, the redesign minimized surface roughness and created self-supporting internal vacuum channels. This approach improved quality and reduced time and costs.
The material of the parts is crucial for the factory production of tools such as grippers. Leem and his development team tested various printers and materials, including fused filament fabrication (FFF), stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS) and powder bed fusion (PBF). Only Markforged with Onyx and the carbon fiber reinforcement was able to achieve the bending and impact strength that these parts require for certification.
Another advantage of Markforged is the excellent surface quality. All other 3D printers tested by Harvestance required post-processing, such as melting away support structures, de-powdering, washing and curing or polishing. However, the parts printed with Markforged could be used directly from the print bed without further delay or additional labor costs for post-processing.
"We opted for Markforged's 3D printing technology with composite material to reduce the weight of the grippers while improving their strength and rigidity to optimize their performance."
Seungjae Leem CEO of Harvestance
For printing larger tools such as customized grippers for palletizing robots and heavy pick-and-carry tools for large industrial robots, Harvestance uses the Markforged FX20. The faster FX20 also speeds up production by 3 to 4 times.
"By using Markforged's 3D printing technology, we were able to reduce the weight by 80 % compared to commercially available grippers and shorten the delivery time from two weeks to two days compared to conventional CNC milled grippers," says Seungjae Leem, CEO of Harvestance.
By reinforcing the underside of the gripper body with continuous carbon fibers and glass fibers, Harvestance has developed a strong, lightweight gripper that can also carry heavy workpieces without changing their shape.
"The high-strength material (Onyx), the continuous fiber reinforcement, the excellent surface quality and the simple post-processing from Markforged were the ideal solution for us. Our engineers can concentrate fully on their work and develop products without having to worry about mechanical properties, post-processing or quality," adds Leem.
"By using Markforged's 3D printing technology, we were able to reduce the weight by 80 % compared to commercially available grippers and reduce the delivery time from two weeks to two days compared to conventional CNC-milled grippers."
Seungjae Leem CEO of Harvestance
The future
Harvestance leverages its mechanical design capabilities and DfAM solutions combined with Markforged's 3D printing technology with composite materials to bring lightweight, strong, customized and affordable grippers to market.
The company offers numerous services relating to robot grippers that are tailored to individual customer requirements. The ultimate goal is to provide a service that quickly delivers parts tailored to the customer's conditions, regardless of time and place. As a first step, an algorithm for the automatic design of customized grippers has been developed and an online platform has been set up through which customers can design, order and pay for these grippers. This initiative will soon be extended to items such as finger grippers and gripper tips.
In addition to design automation, Harvestance is also looking to automate production systems by utilizing the Markforged Digital Forge platform for parts ordered through their online 3D printing services platform.
"Markforged's technology and simple manufacturing process have been critical to the launch and expansion of our end-of-arm tooling business. We are confident that the Digital Forge platform will allow us to further streamline and modernize our operations."
Seungjae Leem CEO of Harvestance
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