October 7--Heusenstamm, Germany--One of the most creative minds in industrial laser system concept and design has returned to his roots after a short hiatus. Jurgen Held, who can rightly lay claim to building and installing some of the most ingenious laser solutions to manufacturing problems, has opened Held Systems Deutschland GmbH in this city, occupying the premises where he started Held Laser Technik prior to selling to Schuler in 1999.
The new company is a subsidiary of Held Systems AG, located near Lucerne, Switzerland, an entity where Held has been building systems in an 1100m2 plant.
The German company will employ a staff of from 8 to 10, located in the original 2600m2 building. The main activity of the company will be the design and engineering of custom and large laser systems for welding (also remote welding) and cutting (also remote cutting) that use high-power CO2 and Nd:YAG lasers. They will maintain a relationship with Fraunhofer Institute with whom they have cooperated on several projects.
The new operation has received its first major order from South Africa for a system to cut armored plate for defense vehicles, which will be delivered in March of 2006. This system will be assembled at the Swiss facility. The company also has orders for retrofitting older TRANSLAS systems they previously built, one a 15-year-old unit installed at MTU in Munich, which will have a laser upgrade, and another at a shipyard where a milling spindles will be added to a massive laser welder system. On the drawing board is an airbag cutting system, destined to be sold next year.
In an interview with ILS, Held remarked that the reopening of the German operation has been welcomed by several European manufacturers that have a unique processing problem they plan to resolve by use of a laser process.
To contact Held Systems in Germany call +49 6104 66480.