Aerotech establishes laser laboratory in Fuerth to drive European market expansion

Aerotech, a motion control expert, is accelerating its European business layout by building a laser laboratory at its F ü rth factory in Germany and simultaneously establishing local assembly capabilities for control and drive systems. This move will make the factory a center for the development, testing, and validation of laser manufacturing processes in Europe, while also providing system assembly services to customers.

The new laser laboratory enables customers to test and optimise laser applications under realistic production conditions using Aerotech motion systems. The focus is on micro- and precision material processing for industries such as semiconductor manufacturing, medical technology, electronics and aerospace. Until now, many customer-specific application trials were carried out in the United States; the Fürth site shortens distances for European customers and allows closer technical coordination.

Responsibility for the laboratory lies with Oliver Hentschel, who brings more than twelve years of experience in laser and photonics research. In Fürth, he oversees both the technical expansion of the lab and the execution of customer trials, covering complete system setups from laser scanners and multi-axis stages to controllers.

At the core of the laboratory is an ultrashort pulse laser system supplied by Light Conversion, enabling femtosecond-based micro-machining with minimal thermal impact. Combined with Aerotech’s motion platforms, a wide range of materials can be processed and evaluated. Measurement and analysis are supported by high-resolution digital microscopy from Keyence.

Alongside application development, Aerotech is also setting up assembly of drive and controller components in Fürth. According to the company, this responds to rising demand for customised solutions and is intended to reduce lead times while improving coordination between application engineering, testing and delivery.

With further expansion planned over the next two years, Aerotech aims to establish the Fürth site as a long-term European hub linking development, validation and production-ready implementation of advanced laser manufacturing processes.

Source: ETMM