From China to Europe: Sulzer's Digital Casting Leap
Customer Background: Precision Manufacturing Challenges for Industrial Giants
Founded in 1834, Sulzer is a global leader in pumps, turbomachinery, and industrial fluid technology. Its Dalian facility specialises in precision casting of high end pump bodies and hydraulic components, with products widely used in energy, chemical, and water treatment sectors.
Facing intensifying global competition, Sulzer urgently needed to overcome the efficiency bottlenecks and design limitations of traditional casting methods.
In 2023, Sulzer’s Dalian plant pioneered the adoption of the CreatBot D1000 large format industrial 3D printer for PLA investment casting. After a year of rigorous production validation, the equipment demonstrated proven reliability, prompting Sulzer Pumps Finland Oy to procure two additional D1000 HS systems in 2024 to accelerate rapid iterative development at its European R&D centre.
High end pump body and hydraulic parts finished product pictures
Industry Pain Points: Traditional Casting is Slow, Expensive, and Rigid
In precision pump body manufacturing, Sulzer faces three core challenges:
- Production delays: The metal mold for the complex pump housing takes 4–6 weeks to make, delaying customer delivery.
- High cost: The cost of small batch molds accounts for more than 40% of the total cost of parts.
- Design constraints: Split molds cannot achieve innovative structures such as flow channel optimisation, hollow weight reduction, and irregular cooling channels.
A 400 mm diameter impeller mold requires multiple steel molds to be assembled using traditional methods, resulting in a casting scrap rate as high as 30%.
— Su Ershuo, Production Director, Dalian Plant
Solution: D1000 HS Industrial Grade Breakthrough
1. Ultra Large Molding Space: Scarce Resources in the Industry
- 1000 × 1000 × 1000 mm³ world leading dimensions enable integrated printing of impellers, volutes, and other oversized investment castings.
- ±0.2 mm dimensional accuracy ensures the casting assembly surface requires no secondary machining.
- High precision linear guide and closed loop synchronous drive support continuous printing for 500 hours without failure.
2. Ultimate Reliability: The Founding Stone of the Foundry Workshop
Certified with 1,000 hours Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
Practical records from the Surshou Dalian factory include:
- 27 consecutive days (648 hours) of uninterrupted production, excluding consumable replacement.
- Over 5,000 hours of cumulative printing with no replacement of key components.
3. Digital Casting Full Chain
CreatBot 3D Printing Pump Body Parts Process
Post machining processing: 98% casting qualification rate
Implementation Process: Digital Leap from Dalian to Finland
Phase 1: The Stability Test of Dalian Factory (2023–2024)
The first D1000 undertook the task of nuclear grade pump body fusion casting.
- Maximum single piece size of 900 × 850 × 600 mm, setting an industry record.
- Compared with traditional steel molds, the cycle was compressed from 42 days to 10 days, and the cost was reduced by 76%.
Pour high temperature alloy
Phase 2: Disruptive Applications at the European R&D Centre
The Finnish team used the D1000 HS to achieve:
- Closed loop iteration of Ye Luns fluid simulation, printing, and testing, accelerating development by 5 times.
- The world’s first integrated hollow cooling channel impeller, increasing pump efficiency by 32%.
Quantitative Results: Rewriting Industry Benchmarks
| Metrics | Traditional Handicraft | CreatBot Solution | Increase Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mold production cycle | 35–48 days | 5–8 days | 80%↓ |
| Single mold cost | $12,000 | $1,800 | 87%↓ |
| Maximum formable size | ≤ 500 mm (fission) | 1000 mm (one piece) | 100%↑ |
| Cast surface accuracy | Ra 12.5 | Ra 6.3 | 50%↑ |
Customer Testimony: Trust Behind the Data
“What impressed us most about the D1000 HS is its stability. It successfully completed 9 marathon printing sessions each exceeding 200 hours, with dimensional deviations consistently controlled within ±0.5 mm, while significantly accelerating the production efficiency of customised parts.”
— Manager, Advanced Manufacturing Department, Sulzer Dalian Plant
“The European team initially had reservations about the reliability of ‘Made in China’, but the 5,000 hour operational record from the Dalian plant completely changed our perspective. These two systems have now become our strategic assets.”
— Technical Director, Sulzer Pumps Finland Oy R&D Center