With over a century of expertise in the chemicals industry, global giant Wacker Chemie AG is no stranger to pioneering the field of materials’ research, including silicone. However, the prospect of using additive manufacturing to produce silicone parts has long posed a challenge for the industry, due in part to the high viscosity of the material. A challenge, that is, until 2016: when ACEO®, a brand of WACKER, unveiled the world’s first 3D printed elastomer.
So how is ACEO® using AMFG to create a seamless, automated workflow from request to delivery?
Since its launch of the first ever 100% silicone 3D printing technology, ACEO® has continued to be at the forefront of the silicone 3D printing revolution. However, ACEO®’s innovative technology raised an interesting question: what would be the best way to enable customers to request their very own, high-quality silicone parts and prototypes?
“One of our primary aims at ACEO® is to create a seamless journey that makes requesting 3D printed silicone parts both easy and reliable,” says Judith Distelrath, Project Office Manager at ACEO®.
To make the ordering parts as simple as possible for users, ACEO® first needed an efficient way to automate and streamline its request process. Production processes would need also to be streamlined, particularly as the nature of the silicone printing process makes it impossible to rework the product if a problem arises.
Considering the sensitive nature of the data at hand, and the fact that IT security at WACKER is of the highest standard, data security was also a highly important criterion for ACEO®. Guaranteeing the confidentiality of all personal and project data relating to users was therefore crucial. And, like many companies, ACEO® uses ERP software as part of its day-to-day operations. Any solution would, therefore, need to integrate with ACEO®’s ERP system of choice — SAP.