2017 Award Winners
Award-winning project: Manual production replaced by complex automation – manufacturing of circular knitting needles
Project partners: Prym Consumer Europe GmbH, Stolberg | Steinbeis Research Center Automation in Lightweight Construction Processes (ALP), Chemnitz
Demand for the ‘selfmade’ brand is constantly growing, with the rising interest in handicrafts representing a sustainable trend rather than just a short-lived craze. According to estimates by Prym Consumer Europe GmbH in Stolberg, there is a shift in the average age of those interested towards significantly younger target groups for handicrafts.
In a joint development project between Prym and the Steinbeis Research Centre for Automation in Lightweight Construction Processes (SFZ ALP) in Chemnitz, a complex automation system for the manufacture of circular knitting needles was developed. Starting with fundamental material considerations, through component development, and on to the design and manufacturing implementation, a process that had previously been carried out entirely by hand has been fully automated, whilst also offering a high degree of flexibility to meet a wide range of customer requirements.
At the heart of this development lies the extensive experience of the SFZ ALP experts in the field of automating plastics processing involving materials with low flexural stiffness. The transfer of fundamental research from the Institute of Lightweight Structures at Chemnitz University of Technology, in collaboration with the SFZ ALP, was ideally implemented within this project.
The product itself also demonstrates a high degree of innovation: Prym has already been awarded the Red Dot Design Award for the redesigned external geometry, which facilitates ergonomic handling during the knitting process, and for the use of high-quality steel cables instead of the plastic cable previously used. With this project, SFZ ALP has once again made a lasting name for itself in the automation of such applications. The project could only be realised through close collaboration between experts in professional toolmaking, the production process and product development. The project’s receipt of the Transfer Prize is testament to the excellence with which Prym and the SFZ ALP, together with Chemnitz University of Technology, put research findings into practice in near-series industrial applications.