Van Lochem - Case about 3D printing in maintenance

Van Lochem

Founded in 1969, Van Lochem is a family-owned company that has a vast experience of specializing in maintenance, renovations and transformations. The company is very open-minded when it comes to the way in which it operates and that means that they are constantly looking for new methods and techniques to enhance the way they work. Innovation is at the forefront of everything that they do because the company understands that evolving technology can help them to work more efficiently and effectively. Therefore, they are able to commit to projects and ensure to deliver every single time.

They consider themselves and are considered by many to be a leading market player, driven by their ambition and forward thinking. Therefore, cutting-edge technology underpins everything that they do and make them stand out in a market that is competitive, where thinking outside of the box can be the difference between success and failure.

The challange for Van Lochem

Van Lochem takes great pride in their work and that is the reason why they are so highly regarded. In recent decades, their methods and the technology meant that they had to work slowly in order to complete renovation jobs to the highest standards. For every maintenance company accuracy is crucial when carrying out renovation or transformation work. Sometimes this means that certain parts have to be made by hand, and if the work needed days instead of hours to get the best result, then that is what it would take.

Enhanced renovations

Things have now changed as they are now adopting a completely different method by using Tractus3D printers to carry out certain aspects of their projects. Their ability to carry out building transformation work or renovations has been enhanced by the fact that they can now increase the speed at which they work. The use of a 3D printer takes their digital model and creates it into the required product in just a few hours. This is a huge amount of time saved by the company, enabling them to focus on other areas of the project while still ensuring they meet the high standards set by themselves.

Old historic projects

Working on renovation projects that included properties constructed in the 1930’s, it came to their attention that a number of mounting clips were broken and could no longer be purchased as they were no longer in production. Therefore, this would mean that the entire casing would have to be replaced, at a considerable cost. However, with their innovative mindset, they turned to another solution: 3D printing.

The solution for Van Lochem

They found that by using a Tractus3D printer, they could cut the time it took to create the required objects by a considerable amount. In fact, there is no other way that you could achieve this level of accuracy that is also accompanied by speed.

After scanning the relevant mounting clips, they were able to import the 3D design to special software and do finetuning of the design. The final design was completed in just a matter of hours as opposed to several days.
All that was needed was sending it to the printer and start the 3D print. The 3D printer then took on the hard work of creating the object over just a few hours. This saved them a lot of money on products, man-hours and problems that arise with using original materials and methods.

Van Lochem undoubtedly benefited from 3D printing and this will shape the way in which they move forward. They can now work more efficiently, plan tighter deadlines and meet them consistently, it has made it possible for them to increase their output without compromising on quality.

“It is almost impossible to imagine all of the applications beforehand. We will continue to roll out 3D printing in our company and will certainly be putting 3D printers into use in a wide range of cases in the future.”
- Jack van Van Lochem, Managing Director

3D printers used by Van Lochem

T1250

The T1250 is the mid range industrial 3D printer in our DESK series.

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