Suchang TPS is a company that designs and manufactures packaging containers for the safe transport of batteries. Driven by the surge in demand for automotive rechargeable batteries, Suchang TPS has continued to experience significant growth in recent years. To respond efficiently to the increasing demand for packaging containers from battery manufacturers and partner companies, Suchang TPS has introduced 3D printers and 3D scanners, thereby radically transforming its prototyping process.
This has streamlined the prototyping process—which previously involved four stages from product design through to production and inspection—into just two stages: 3D printing and fit verification. Consequently, the production time, which previously took over two weeks, has been reduced to two to three days, and concerns regarding the costs associated with re-manufacturing due to failed inspections have been eliminated. Furthermore, by manufacturing consumable tools in-house rather than outsourcing them, the company has saved both time and money.
Suchang TPS’s greatest competitive advantage lies in the design and manufacture of packaging containers for secondary batteries that can be directly integrated into manufacturers’ automated production lines. Furthermore, the company is seeking to differentiate itself through high-value-added products, such as bespoke manufacturing and recyclable containers.
Recently, Suchang TPS has been rapidly expanding its operations in line with the growth of the automotive secondary battery market. With its headquarters and factory located in Ulsan, South Korea, the company operates local production facilities in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere. Sucheong TPS, which is establishing a growing presence in the battery packaging container market, began exploring the introduction of 3D printers and 3D scanners at the end of 2021 to meet its customers’ diverse requirements more quickly and efficiently. After considering ways to reduce the costs associated with prototype and miniature failures and to shorten production schedules, Suchang TPS found the solution in 3D printers and 3D scanners. Suchang TPS’s product development process consists of the following stages: ‘receipt of quotation, review of drawings, product design, mould design, mould manufacture, product production, product inspection, product packaging, dispatch and delivery’. Within this process, the stages where failure costs arise are from product design through to product inspection. If a sample is produced to verify dimensional accuracy and the results fall outside the permissible tolerance range, the design process must be restarted from the beginning. Due to the nature of vacuum forming, thickness may vary depending on the conditions, making prior verification via samples difficult. For this reason, in the past, the sample production process was often repeated to meet the requirements of dimensional certificates. Improvements in efficiency were also needed for the production of miniatures. In the case of automated container production—a core competency of Suchang TPS and a high-value-added product—an additional pre-verification stage is required. Specifically, a miniature must be created to simulate how a robot will access and operate on the container, taking the customer’s process into account. Furthermore, the miniature was required to facilitate more effective communication with customers during consultations, alongside technical drawings.
In early 2022, Suchang TPS introduced a Stratasys F770 3D printer to improve its sample and miniature production methods. The reason for adopting the F770 3D printer was its ability to easily produce large and complex parts. Han In-woo, a researcher at Suchang TPS, explained, “Using a 3D printer with a small build volume involves the hassle of having to divide the packaging container sample into several pieces and then assemble them. ‘So we were looking for a 3D printer capable of producing large parts in a single print; just as we were searching, we learnt that the F770, with a build volume of 1,000 × 610 × 610 mm, had been launched, so we decided to proceed with its introduction,’ he explains.
The Stratasys F770 3D printer not only offers a large build volume but also utilises water-soluble support material, minimising the manual labour required to remove support from large and complex parts. This has significantly reduced the time and cost involved in producing packaging container samples and miniatures, whilst streamlining the workflow.
As the process of producing samples using a 3D printer and then verifying dimensions with a 3D scanner has become established, Suchang TPS is experiencing tangible benefits in several respects. The most significant benefit is the substantial reduction in the cost of failure. With a significant reduction in redesign work, unnecessary expenditure has been cut. Typically, mould-related costs for producing samples amount to around 50 million won, and should a redesign be required, these costs are incurred in full once again. Thanks to the F770 3D printer and 3D scanner, Suchang TPS has seen a significant reduction in the need for redesigns.
Furthermore, the company has succeeded in strengthening customer confidence in dimensional stability. A representative from Suchang TPS stated, “As demand for containers for automation has recently increased, the volume of verification work required for test certificates has also risen,” adding, “By utilising a combination of 3D printers and 3D scanners, we have been able to easily ensure dimensional stability right from the sample production stage, which in turn has led to greater customer confidence.” Furthermore, the ability to manufacture tools such as jigs in-house is another key benefit. Suchang TPS is rapidly expanding its investment in equipment. Consequently, demand for tooling is also on the rise. Previously, the company sourced the necessary tools through external contractors. Having experienced the benefits of 3D printing first-hand, the company now manufactures small tools such as jigs in-house. Suchang TPS’s journey into additive manufacturing has only just begun. The company plans to apply additive manufacturing technology not only to the production of samples, miniatures and tools, but also to enhance its competitiveness in the development of high-value-added products in the future.
Researcher Han In-woo stated, “There is currently growing interest in eco-friendly materials within the battery packaging sector,” adding, “Accordingly, we are considering the introduction of a 3D printer capable of producing samples using eco-friendly materials for research purposes.”
