BFW launches Photon 4000G

By Bhalchandra Chorghade, Editor, CNCTimes.com

Bharat Fritz Werner Ltd (BFW) and m2nxt (a BFW subsidiary), India’s leading CNC and Industry 4.0 machines and solutions companies are proud to announce the launch of its PHOTON 4000G Laser-DED machine, Made in India and available worldwide.

BFW specializes in cutting-edge advanced manufacturing technology platforms, with more than 50,000 machines and systems installed worldwide. BFW sensed the industry need and opportunity for cost-effective and large format metal additive manufacturing in the Laser-Powder & Laser-Wire Directed Energy Deposition (DED) segment. It entered the DED metal AM industry in September 2021 and has a very Technology-driven Global team to drive this business.

BFW’s 60 years of expertise in machine tools gives it the capability and infrastructure to develop and manufacture the world’s largest, fastest, and lowest price L-DED machine to exact specifications and reliability. BFW also prides itself in its capability, commitment, and track record to provide world-class customer support for installation, commissioning, training, and expert consultancy to any customer worldwide.

BFW’s first system is the PHOTON 4000G, which will be available from January 2023. This system boasts, among many other advantages:

• 36 cubic m hermetically sealed Argon Chamber (33% larger than any other commercial AM system)
• 0.4 cubic m part build envelope (200% larger than any other inert chamber commercial AM system)
• Industry-first dual-deposition heads on dual ram gantry – for Powder & Wire deposition
• Industry-first standard spec 6KW fibre laser with a beam splitter to direct variable power to both heads
• Standard features include a 3mx3mx4m argon chamber with a stainless steel interior, multiple laser safe viewports & glove ports, full-size front & rear doors, motorized parts table, heavy-duty tilt/rotate the table, real-time process monitoring via pyrometry/thermography/machine vision, full 5-axis control/build software, ID cladding head with 2m length, and much more, a game-changer in the DED industry.

BFW has announced a starting MSRP of Euro 1,990,000, which translates to Euro 190,000 per cubic meter of part build volume, 2.5x to 20x lower than other L-DED machine manufacturers

Printing large/huge parts in the Photon 4000G will be significantly more economical, by an order of magnitude, than other L-DED argon chamber machines. Such compelling economic business cases bring game-changing opportunities, competitive advantages, and technical capability to potential users for printing large/very large metal alloy components. specialising in freeform fabrication, hybrid manufacturing and repair applications for the aerospace, defence, oil and gas, power, mining, and heavy industries. BFW intends to install Photon 4000G machines in its Dr. Abdul Kalam Centre of Excellence in Bangalore for contract manufacturing, as well as effectively market & support the machine in India and globally.

“I have applied and marketed the most premium DED equipment in the industry over the past 20 years. I talked to hundreds of potential & existing industrial users and identified a large global opportunity to satisfy a glaring unmet need – the significant gap between demand and availability of truly industrial-grade yet affordable L-DED systems and the practical experience required to ensure good results and economic viability. I have contract-printed parts priced at more than $250,000, and the BFW Photon 4000G can print similar parts at less than half that cost once amortization and operational costs are considered. It is also evident that the new wave of metal AM industrial manufacturing will be driven by Laser-DED” stated DED industry veteran Ashok H. Varma, EVP & Global Leader, Additive Manufacturing at BFW.

“Most currently installed systems are in laboratories or light industrial applications, many are ‘Do It Yourself systems”, many are underpowered, undersized, or overpriced systems, many are idle or under-utilised, with few suppliers and users having the practical experience to optimally utilise this technology and reduce ‘time to value’. We believe we at BFW will be instrumental in

closing the gap between supply and demand of large, very large, and huge 3D printed parts using laser-powder and laser-wire metal deposition, for free form fabrication and fine/heavy cladding/repairs.” adds Varma.

“BFW and m2nxt have introduced market disruptive high technology products for the last six decades. Photon 4000G is one more such product which will not only bring technology differentiators but would be the First IoT enabled Smart AM machine” adds Ravi Raghavan, MD BFW.

The fact that this world-leading metal AM machine is being manufactured entirely in India is a testament to the Indian Government’s “Make in India” initiative and will address significant, critical and strategic applications in the Defence/Space/Aerospace/Heavy Industries segment.

BFW will soon announce the rollout of several other Photon machine models including Photon 2500 and Photon 1000 series, with gantry and robot, mobile systems for in-situ repair/manufacturing and hybrid AM configurations.

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